Lana Lang, Mastermind
by Psychi
Summary: Lana decides to play matchmaker and comes up with a crazy scheme to get Lex and Clark together. Plus all the mutants have mysteriously disappeared. Slash, femslash, Clex, Chlana.
1. Default Chapter

Gabe Sullivan cleared the dishes from the dinner table and abruptly sprung a conversation upon his daughter as he was apt to do, "So, Lana had to move out of her apartment because of the recent threats."

"I heard", Chloe said as she continued to put away the leftovers.

"And she's having a bit of trouble finding a someone to stay with for the rest of the school year, so I've asked her to move back in with us again."

She stopped what she was doing, "I thought she moved in with Lex? I wouldn't think she would want to live here again."

"Well she does…and more importantly, Lex Luthor wants her to live here. He's my boss again and the guy did manage to somehow keep his father and crooked FBI agents from killing us, so I'm willing to oblige him."

Chloe couldn't help but feel resentful to how things had worked out with Lana. First the girl she thought was becoming a good friend up and tells her she didn't trust or feel comfortable around Chloe and then skips town, off to bigger and pinker things. Chloe was suppose to be the one to make it out of Smallville, not Lana. Then, when Lana did come back, she moved directly in above the Talon and hadn't once contacted Chloe since she left for Paris. Unless prompted by school stuff, meteor mutants, Clark Kent, or Lois's meddling, they were doing a good job pretending they didn't know each other. However, it turned out that Chloe wouldn't be able to ignore Ms. Princess with her living in the same house again.

"Why does she have to live here?" Chloe asked the obvious question. "Why can't she stay at the castle or go live in Metropolis with her Aunt? She would obviously be better off with _family_ around."

Gabe looked at his daughter apprehensively, "Now honey, I know you two had a bit of a falling out last year and you haven't been on the best of terms…"

Chloe snorted, "We haven't been on _any_ terms. She apparently doesn't see me as good enough to speak to anymore."

Sighing, he continued, "…but she needs to finish up her schooling, she wants to do it at Smallville High, and Lex Luthor _wants_ her to live here."

"What?! Why here? Is he paying you to take her or something?" Chloe argued.

"I don't know 'why here'. Maybe he wants her to be around familiar faces or he wants to make sure she's living in a safe home environment. I don't know." Gabe reasoned, "But yes, he's paying me. He is my boss."

"Lex's paying you to take Lana off his hands." she bit out disbelieving.

"In a matter of speaking. He rehired me on at the plant, refinanced the loan on the house at a very nice rate, and gave me a bonus to help out here since I'm supporting two teenagers. So yes…he's paying me." Gabe explained while looking pleadingly into his daughter's eyes.

Chloe couldn't help it, she burst out laughing. "A huge castle, tons of rooms, dozens of bedrooms, and Lex has to pay someone to get Lana out of his metaphorical hair." Chloe choked out in between sobs of laughter, "Oh this is just beautiful." Tears started to form at the corners of her eyes.

"Chloe," he looked sternly at his only child, "You can't tell anyone. Do you here me? Nobody, especially not Lana!"

"But…" Chloe started to plead.

"No one!" Gabe bit back.

"Alright, no one." Chloe conceded while sobering up.

"Um, also, _iwantyoutwotogointothecityandhangoutthisweeked_." Gabe mumbled while biting his lip.

"What?"

"I want you two to go into the city and hang out this weekend." Gabe said in a slower an more comprehensible voice.

Chloe couldn't believe her ears, "Why?"

"Well," he started off a bit tentatively, "We're not the only ones who've noticed that your relationship seems to be a bit strained lately and I said you and Lana could do something together. You know, bonding and…girl stuff."

"One weekend's not going to fix things between us." Chloe said bitterly.

"I know," Gabe agreed, "But it's a start. Come on sweetheart, it could be fun and I've already asked your Lois if you can stay with her."

"She lives in a studio apartment." Chloe said grasping a straws, "It only has one room!"

Gabe countered her move, "Yes, but she said there'd be plenty of room…something about air mattresses."

"But daddy…" Chloe whined in a last bit effort to stop the inevitable.

"You'll have fun," Gabe said, closing the conversation, "Now, I've got to finish up some paperwork, but I don't want you to stay up too late. Lana's moving back in tomorrow."

"Great…just great." Chloe breathed out and then plopped down on the couch to watch TV.

* * *

Lana stepped into a large, bright space which managed to be hotter than the summer air despite the air conditioning streaming out of a myriad of vents strategically placed around the room. Chloe, who had managed to "dress-up" in a pair of off the wrack black pants and some shirt which must have come from a second hand store as Lana was pretty sure no one had made such a monstrosity since the early 80's, fidgeted relentlessly beside her. 

"The Metropolis Art Museum, here we are." Chloe said in a voice clearly the opposite of enthusiastic.

"Let's get in line for tickets." Lana suggested.

Chloe looked around with an assessing posture, "It's a bit crowded in here."

"Uh-huh" Lana shrugged her off.

"Why are we here again?" Chloe asked with no real conviction.

Lana responded dryly, "Girl bonding over classic French impressionism"

"Right." Chloe muttered.

"We'll go hang out wherever your cousin's at afterwards." Lana tried to negotiate with her.

"_Nanashi_? But you hate nightclubs." Chloe said perking up a bit.

"Right." Lana responded, "Well I know you're not exactly fond of museums, so…equal suffering."

Chloe looked over Lana appraisingly, then slowly smiled and parroted back, "Right, equal suffering."

* * *

Lana had just managed to get a soda from one of the waiters when Chloe grabbed her arm and whispered rather loudly into her ear, "Ooooh, look!"

Lana looked towards where Chloe was staring intently. "It's Lex, let's go say hi," Lana brightened up a bit at the prospect of having someone else to talk to, even if it was the guy who just kicked her out of his house.

Chloe stopped her, "Don't you see who he's with?"

"Some guy?" Lana responded questioningly.

"Some guy?!" Chloe asked utterly disbelieving, "That's not just some guy! That's Bruce Wayne…Wayne Industries, Bruce Wayne!"

The back of the hairs on Lana's neck stood up when she spotted Chloe enter reporter mode. "So you want to stand here and discuss who they are instead of talking to them?" She bit out defensively.

"No!" Chloe exclaimed and then admitted, "I want to follow them around until I have enough info to write a story."

"We're not spying on Lex!" Lana cried out at Chloe's audacity.

"Shhhh! It's not _spying_, it's investigative journalism." Chloe debated.

Lana snorted, "You can go investigate, I'm going to talk to Lex."

"Lana, wait!" Chloe called after her.

Lana determinedly made her way over to the two men who had their backs to her and Chloe, but stopped short when she caught Lex sigh exasperatedly. "I just don't know what to do anymore. I can keep trying to find someone half-way sane, caring and interesting or I can harden myself to others just like my father always wanted me to do."

Lana felt guilty at listening to such an obviously private conversation, especially after having chewed Chloe out about spying, however after living with Lex Luthor for nearly a month and barely chipping the surface in finding out what makes the guy tick, she felt compelled. Lana couldn't help herself.

The tall man next to Lex responded in a strained, but caring voice, "While I'm leery of endorsing anything promoted by Lionel Luthor, the second option seems to be the only viable way of life for people with our wealth and in our social circle."

"Do you truly believe that Bruce? Can a person really live that way?" Lex asked tiredly.

Lana's heart went out to Lex, who was obviously suffering underneath his cool exterior.

"I hope so." Bruce replied.

Lana slowly backed away until she was accosted by Chloe, who pulled her behind a rather large fern.

"So?! What did you hear???" Chloe demanded in an excited voice.

Lana responded with a mixture of sadness and irritability, "Lex is all alone and has decided to give up on love altogether. Is that the article you want to write."

Chloe looked back at Lana with confusion and shame, "No, of course not."

"Let's just go, ok. I don't want to talk to him after overhearing that now." Lana said.

"Sure, whatever you want." Chloe answered on a more somber note.

* * *

Chloe clicked off her cell phone, "I tried Lois on her cell, but she didn't answer." 

"So what do you want to do?" Lana asked

"We could see a movie." Chloe suggested.

"I guess. What do you want to see?" Lana replied apathetically.

"Umm…I don't know what's playing?" Chloe responded just as apathetically.

"Maybe we could just watch a movie on cable back at the apartment?" Lana put forth.

Chloe jumped at the chance to end the torturous night, "Sounds good."

* * *

Chloe read a note left by Lois on the counter out loud, "Staying out, cute guy, got a change of clothes and won't see you before you leave, yada, yada, yada, left provisions, order pizza, and I'll talk to you later. Love, Lois." 

Lana opened the ice box to check it out, "Provisions seem to be beer and mustard."

"We can get some soda delivered with the pizza." Chloe offered.

Lana took out a bottle, "That's alright. Beer's fine with me tonight. Where's the bottle opener?"

Chloe looked at Lana incredulously, "Are you sure, because…"

"Chloe," Lana started exasperatedly, "I've been trying to be more direct with people lately. Tonight's been a bust. I'm torn between being a bit depressed about life in general and bored out of my mind, and my feet are killing me from really pretty, but painful shoes. Have some beer with me."

Chloe took the beer offered by Lana, "Ok."

Lana smiled, "But we can still order pizza."

* * *

In the middle of Monsoon Wedding, Lana blurted out "I can't stop thinking about Lex." 

Chloe, who was quite use to random tangents from her father, asked, "In general, or about what you overheard tonight?"

"Both. I mean look at the people he's had around him, the one's who are suppose to love him, his father for instance." Lana expounded.

"Satan himself." Chloe replied.

"Helen" Lana listed

"Backstabbing psycho bitch." Chloe commented.

"Desiree" Lana said while making a distinctly unpleasant face.

"Meteor rock psycho bitch." Chloe observed.

"Victoria" Lana named off.

"Skanky psycho bitch." Chloe remarked.

"Dead mother, dead nanny, dead little brother, slimy absent little brother" Lana made an inventory of people in Lex's life.

"Not exactly the Brady bunch." Chloe scrutinized.

Lana screwed up her face and thought hard, "He said that he couldn't find someone '_sane, caring and interesting'_."

Chloe, looking drunkenly contemplative, "That shouldn't be as difficult as it has been for him. But then again it's been pretty difficult for me to find someone like that."

A determined Lana replied, "I don't know, I found Whitney and then Clark."

"But then Whitney died and you broke up with Clark." Chloe pointed out.

"And you've had Pete and Clark." Lana continued on.

Chloe got the distinct feeling Lana wasn't listening to her, "…then Pete told me he was in love with me, avoided me and then had to leave town, and Clark keeps everyone at arms length."

Lana's face brightened, "I know! We'll set him up with Clark."

"Just how drunk are you?" Chloe questioned.

"It's perfect." Lana explained, "Lex gets Clark. Clark gets someone with some chance of getting through those walls around him. I be appreciated for my pure-hearted selflessness as the one who got them together."

Chloe looked dumbfounded, "_Pure-hearted selflessness_?"

Lana continued on drunkenly, but unfazed by the other girl, "Could I be any more _perfect_?"

Chloe stared at Lana, "Umm… you mean could _it_ be any more perfect?"

Lana blinked and then waved her hand in an exasperated motion, "Yeah, that too."

Chloe laughed and then thought about what Lana was saying, "Ok, but they're already friends, granted they're a bit hostile to each other now."

"But they could be more with just a bit of a push" Lana tried to persuade.

"_More," _Chloe choked on her beer, "Clark and Lex as more than friends? What exactly did they teach you in Paris?"

Lana trudged on, "Chloe, just think about it. Lex has been into Clark for years now, none of his other relationships have withstood that kind of test of time. Lex has always kept tabs on everything Clark related. One could even say he's a bit obsessed with him. I'm pretty sure Clark's sane, if a bit secretive and weird. He's also caring and the weirdness just makes him that more interesting."

"One problem with that scenario" Chloe tried to reason with Lana.

"What?" Lana asked.

"Clark's not into guys?" Chloe said, firm in the belief that she had popped whatever demented pink balloon Lana was attempting to fill.

"Well, Clark's not really into women either?" Lana responded rather bitterly.

Chloe couldn't believe she just heard that statement from Lana's mouth, "But he's into you?? And he's kissed me a few times and we've made out… not that it meant anything."

Lana looked into Chloe's eyes, "Clark's into the idea of me. The _girl next door_ that he can put upon a pedestal and who'll magically make his life seem more normal by her mere presence. I don't think he's really into me."

"But you two have been going out off and on for almost two years now and flirting for a good year before that. You must have done something in all that time," she reasoned.

"Nothing beyond kissing" Lana admitted.

"Nothing??" Chloe asked.

"And not because I didn't want to," Lana continued to confess.

Chloe was surprised to say the least, "You wanted to?"

Lana snorted, "Wanted to. Tried to. But No! He has to go on and on about respecting me, waiting until we're ready and being happy just to _cuddle_!" Lana said _cuddle_ like it was some nasty word.

Chloe's eyebrows shot up as she slowly took in the picture Lana was painting, "Hold on, let me get this right. You tried to do risqué sexual things with Clark Kent and he only wanted to cuddle?"

Lana took a drink out of her nearly empty bottle, "Yep! And contrary to what guidance counselors tell you, extracurricular activities and work do nothing to relieve sexual frustration. They just make you really busy."

"That does explain how you manage to be involved in just about everything," Chloe stated.

Lana, muttered over her bottle neck while slightly mouthing the tip in a way Chloe associated with raunchy dares, soft porn and Lex Luthor, "Lots and lots of sexual frustration."

Chloe sat in silence, rather drunk and bowled over by what she had been hearing.

"I'll have to come up with a plan," Lana exclaimed.

Chloe attempted to reason some more, "Lana, I can buy that Lex is bisexual, I kind of figured that. I can buy that Clark's so far in the closet he's going to need a giant push just to figure which way's out, and you would be the expert in his case, but shouldn't we make sure we're right about Lex obsessing over Clark?"

"That's why I have you," Lana smiled in a slightly evil manner.

Chloe choked a bit on her drink, "Excuse me?"

"It's not spying Chloe, it's investigative journalism, without publishing the story of course." Lana threw Chloe's words back at her.

Chloe gave in, "Something tells me I probably shouldn't, but in a weird way it sounds like fun… and it's for a good cause."

Lana's smile widened, "It's for the best cause of all. _L'amour_."

Chloe snorted, "Following that amount of cheese, no more beer for you."


	2. Chapter 2

Monday morning, Chloe found herself hanging out in the back of Luthor mansion trying to chat up the house staff. Taking a big drink of her triple shot café mocha, she knocked on the back door.

A rather conservatively dressed man in his mid-twenties opened the door . Chloe remembered him from several months ago when she had visited Lex to talk about Lionel.

"Can I help you?"

"Yeah. You're Enrique? Right?"

"Yes"

"I'm Chloe, Clark and Lex's friend."

She extended her hand to him and he took it, shaking it briefly.

"Mr. Luthor is not in at the moment." He volunteered.

"That's ok, I sort of wanted to talk to you."

"Me?" Enrique asked in disbelief.

"Yes, you." Chloe drawled, smiling brightly, "How have you been lately?"

"Fine" Enrique answered warily.

Chloe continued to flirt while leaning in to use her cleavage to its best advantage, "That's great."

Enrique sighed while pointedly not looking down her shirt, "I feel obliged to point out that I'm seeing someone and you're in high school."

Chloe blushed and stammered, "No, I didn't mean…"

Lex's butler looked skeptical, "Why do you want to talk to me?"

Chloe scrambled for an answer, "I, um I…just thought you might be a bit lonely with being up at this castle all the time. You and I could be friends."

Enrique huffed sarcastically. "Yes, because my entire life must consist of being at the beck and call of Mr. Luthor since I am a lowly servant. I must not have any friends, especially" he looked her up and down, "age-appropriate friends."

Chloe looked abashed, "I didn't mean it that way."

"I'm sure."

They stared at each other for a bit.

"Fine" Enrique bit out.

"Fine what?" Chloe didn't follow his line of thinking.

"We're friends." Enrique said briskly, "Now what do you want?"

"Well," Chloe tried a more direct method, "I wanted to know what's been happening between Lex and Clark?"

Enrique rolled his eyes, "I don't believe I can discuss that with you."

"Come on! I'm just trying to help two of my friends mend their troubled and strained relationship back together." Chloe didn't mention Lana's idea of what _back together_ would mean.

"And it could mean my job" he replied.

"They've both been miserable fighting like this…" Chloe pleaded.

Enrique said dryly, "My heart goes out, really."

Chloe continued on, "…short tempered, hostile, and altogether just plain _pissy_."

"It has been a trying time for all of us."

Chloe used her most convincing voice, "Think of it as self-preservation with a bit of altruism thrown in for good measure."

He caved, "When you put it that way…"

"So dish, what's the scoop?" Chloe asked excitedly.

"First, will you give me your word that not a word of this will be published or traced back to me?" he asked.

"I protect my sources at all costs," she replied crossing her heart.

"And will you give me your word that you'll quit bugging me and leave afterwards?"

"Yes, whatever you want." Chloe agreed.

"I believe Mr. Kent found Mr. Luthor's private room." Enrique stated.

"His private room? What's that?" Chloe asked while thoughts of torture chambers and bad cable movie S&M scenes ran through her head.

"It was his hobby and sort of his sanctuary when board meetings, his father or other things would get out of hand. Mr. Luthor would retire there whenever he had a particularly hard day," Enrique explained.

"So what upset Clark so much?" she inquired.

Enrique exhaled, "It had different, shall we say, relics of Mr. Luthor's little adventures with Mr. Kent, as well as some other stuff."

"Adventures?" Chloe decided that what she was currently imagining was probably way off the mark and she blamed Lana and HBO for it.

"You know with…" he lowered his voice to a whisper, "meteor stuff and mutants."

"OH! Oh man," Chloe exclaimed finally getting the picture, "Clark hates that."

"Well, yes, there was quite a fuss." he admitted.

"What was the other stuff." Chloe wanted as much information as possible.

Enrique muttered under his breath, "Very large pictures of Mr. Kent"

Chloe strained to hear, "What?"

Enrique repeated himself louder, "He had several pictures of Mr. Kent."

"What kind of pictures?" HBO came back to her in full force.

"Head shots mostly, although there were a couple really good full length pictures."

"Does he still have the room?" She asked.

"No, no. He went and took it apart after Mr. Kent found it."

"What about the stuff in it?"

"Well he moved all the weird stuff somewhere else, he had the car he hit Mr. Kent in crushed and he moved the pictures to a different room."

"He kept the pictures?"

"Sentimental value." Enrique drawled out while moving his hand in a rather crude manner.

Chloe's eyes got big, "Oh. I see."

"Uh-huh" he said slyly.

"Ok. I'm going now," Chloe said as she turned to head back to her car.

"You do that."

Enrique shut the door with a loud click.

* * *

"Clark, how you doing?" Chloe brightened when she entered the Torch later in the day to find just the person she was looking for.

"Fine." He didn't look up from the computer screen. "I'm just checking my e-mail in between classes."

Chloe was determined to prove Lana wrong. In her opinion Clark Kent was not gay, simply an old fashioned, small town bred, virginal prude.

"I wanted to talk to you about something." She said trying to sound as guilty as possible.

He looked up from what he was doing, "Is it about your Mom?"

"No, um, it's about me actually." She launched right into it, "I've sorta been seeing someone."

Clark looked surprised, "Well, that's good isn't it?"

"Yeah, it's great actually."

"Anyone one I know?"

"No!" Chloe responded quickly, "They're not from around here."

"Ok."

"Um, anyway, what I was going to talk to you about is…um…sex." She felt her face blushing.

"Sex?" Clark went redder than her shirt.

"Yeah, you see I sorta had it."

"Sex???" Clark stuttered.

Chloe was certain her suspicions about him would be confirmed.

"And um, have you? Cause I could really use someone to talk about it."

"No…no I haven't." Clark suddenly found the years of dust bunnies collecting in the far corner of the room absolutely riveting.

"Well what do you think about it."

Clark choked. "I don't think about it! I mean I think about it, but…"

Clark grabbed the soda he had sitting on the edge of the desk and took a big drink.

"…shouldn't you talk to someone else about this? You know…like another girl."

"Well, since Pete left," Chloe used the guilt Clark obviously felt anytime someone mentioned Pete's name, "you're my closest friend."

Not that Chloe would've ever talked to Pete about sex.

Clark managed to look guilty, repentant and sick all at the same time.

"Well ok. What do you need to talk about?" He was now staring at the soda bottle in his hands.

"Do you think I'm a bad person…you know, for doing it?"

Clark's face scrunched up. "No. You're not a bad person."

"Do you think I should've waited until marriage?"

Clark seemed to think on that. "I think that if you thought you were ready and you care about this person and you were safe, than it's alright."

_Crap, Chloe thought. He's not a prude._

"Well what about you? I mean…I know you're a virgin, but would you if you had the chance with someone…like Lana for instance"

"Um, I don't know. There are other things for me to consider." Clark looked up at her, "things I can't talk about."

"It's just that I know you thought what Lex did was wrong. You know sleeping around like that."

Chloe watched as Clark squeezed the bottle hard enough to pop the cap off without unscrewing it. Her eyes followed it as it went flying into the corner with the dust bunnies.

"He was just…I mean he…He used those women." Clark stated finally.

"But didn't those women want to, you know, be used? I mean Shannon only turned psycho cause she was already seriously disturbed. None of the other women seemed to have a problem with the affairs."

Clark didn't have an answer to this. Chloe noted that he was clenching his jaw rhythmically.

"Clark. You're not angry at Lex because he had casual sex? Are you?"

"No!" He responded vehemently.

"So you wouldn't be mad at me?"

"No, of course not." He softened a bit.

"Good."

"Is that what you wanted to talk about, cause I need to get to class?" He started to collect his things.

"Yeah, thanks for discussing it with me."

"Sure. No problem." He moved past Chloe and out into the hall.

"Shit." Chloe said when she heard the door shut, "Lana was right."

* * *

"Lex and Clark need to get together." Chloe stated as she flopped down on the couch next to Lana.

"Uh-huh" Lana muttered, absorbed in watching repeats of Will & Grace.

"You were right." Chloe said incredulously.

"I know."

"So what are we going to do about it?" Chloe asked.

"We're going to convince everyone we've fallen in love and are now dating." Lana responded in a tone entirely too flat for the statement she just made.

Chloe looked like a fish out of water, "We're going to pretend to be lesbians to get Clark and Lex together?"

"Lesbians in love," Lana explained patiently all while watching the TV and apparently taking notes.

Chloe couldn't follow the logic, "Why exactly?"

"Because Smallville's not exactly the most forward thinking town." Lana answered.

"And what about Jason?" Chloe prompted.

"He's ok with it. He says it'll throw his mother off my scent."

"Uh…" Chloe didn't quite know how to respond to that.

Lana launched into her plan, "We come out of the closet first and we'll take the brunt of the reaction. It won't matter as much for us because it isn't real. Also, people respond better when two women are together, especially if they're pretty. Not only that, but it'll help get Clark thinking along the proper homosexual lines to steer him towards Lex."

Chloe considered Lana's reasoning while factoring in that she was right the first time, "I didn't know you were so manipulative and cunning."

"Most people don't," Lana said in a disturbingly sweet voice, "that's how I know I'm doing it right."

* * *

"Hey Lana, what are you doing here?" Clark called down as Lana started to climb the steps up to the loft.

"Came to admire your stall mucking abilities, but I guess you're not doing that today." She said sarcastically.

"No, I was just reading." Clark gestured with his book .

Lana took a deep breathe and launched into what she'd planned to say, scrunching up her face, "Clark, I want to know if we can be friends again. I know it sounds cliché after all that's happened, but I really don't want to loose you entirely from my life."

Clark seemed to hesitate for a second, but then nodded his head. "I suppose we could. I mean I don't want to loose you from my life either."

"So, what book?" Lana asked

"Huh?"

"What book are you reading?" She pointed to his hand.

"The Portrait of Dorian Grey"

Lana suddenly thought of something, "You know I've got copy of an updated version of that story. It's called 'A Face Without A Heart'. I could lend it to you."

"Okay…um"

"So…"

"So…"

"Have you talked to Lex lately"

Clark visibly stiffened. "Um...no. Why?"

"I was just wondering how he's been dealing with the crazy stalker girl trying to burn him and his father being in prison, and then the nightmare virus thing that went around. He doesn't really talk to me about those kinds of things."

Clark stared blankly at her. "I wouldn't know."

"I just figured you'd be more concerned about your friend." Lana pressed on, trying to get a reaction out of him.

Clark sighed, "I don't think we're friends anymore."

"Don't you still care about him?" Lana feigned bewilderment.

"Yeah, but it's really complicated now."

Clark seemed to draw in on himself physically.

"How so?"

"It's just…" He hesitated, but then looked into her eyes, "there are boundaries a person doesn't cross when you're their friend. You don't follow them around and keep track of their actions like there's something suspect about them. And you respect the fact that you can't know everything about them sometimes. And you don't lie to them repeatedly."

Lana nodded her head sympathetically, "Oh Clark, I'm sure he'll forgive you if you just ask."

"What?" Clark asked with a clearly confused look on his face.

"He called you on it, didn't he?"

"On what?"

"You know, the really blatant lies that you've been telling for years when anyone gets the least bit inquisitive about you. The way you've been following him around lately like you're trying to catch him at something. Breaking into private property to dig up evidence just because someone told you he might be doing questionable things instead of just asking him. Jumping to accusations when he's been the victim. Only going to him for favors now…"

"Uh, I, um...I didn't think I …" Clark tried to protest.

Lana cut him off. "Although I did hear that you went to his father behind his back twice, and that might be a bit harder to get over."

"But, I had to! Lex was going to get himself hurt. And then he was going to go to jail and I needed the help."

"So you went to Lionel to protect and help Lex?"

"I had to! He was the only one powerful enough to help the first time and the second time, I didn't really go to him for help. It just worked out that way."

"Isn't that a bit like trying to help the little pigs by going to the big bad wolf?"

"I wouldn't put it that way" He said defensively.

"I mean I've always got the impression they were more enemies than family."

Clark grudgingly relented. "It may not have been my best idea."

"Probably not. Look Clark, I wish I could discuss this more, but I've got to pick up Chloe for dinner and a movie." She tried to put as much insinuation into her voice as she could, initiating the next part of her plan.

"Dinner and a movie?" Clark asked, echoing her tone back to her.

"Do you have a problem with two really close girlfriends going out together… to dinner and a movie?"

"Ah, no, it just sounded…um, never mind"

"What Clark?"

"Um…nothing Lana, have fun and tell Chloe I said hi."

He blushed.

Lana smiled brightly. She got up from the edge of the couch where she'd sat to walk down the stairs.

"Sure Clark. Why don't we discuss this tomorrow? You could stop by the house sometime and I could give you that book."

"Ok, bye" He called back to her as she walked out of the barn.

"Bye"


	3. Chapter 3

"Well this is going to be awkward." Chloe paced, wringing her hands.

"I managed to get some amaretto and sour mix so we can have a few drinks beforehand." Lana said, pulling out a paper bag from the pantry closet.

Chloe eyed her warily, "You're turning into a regular slush, Lana."

Lana swallowed hard and looked up at her on again, off again friend. "It'll loosen us up so we can put on a good show."

"What kind of a show are we talking about here?" Chloe asked anxiously.

Lana busied herself with looking for two glasses. "We're going to make out in public."

"Make out? You mean kissing and touching and stuff?"

"Yes, the general definition of _Making Out_."

"In public?"

"Yes"

"For the first time ever?" Chloe couldn't believe those words actually left her mouth once she said them. That sentence couldn't possibly lead anywhere good.

Lana paused in opening the bottles to look up at Chloe. She kept mentally kicking herself about her ridiculous, Will & Grace meets I Love Lucy inspired plan, nevertheless she put on a mask of confidence that she in no way, shape, or form felt.. 'This better work and it better be worth it', she thought as she quickly shot down the idea flitting across her mind that maybe she was emerging herself in other people's private lives so she didn't have to think about her mess with Jason, her lack of a job and the college applications she was almost ritualistically avoiding.

"Well, we could practice before we go out so it doesn't look forced at all."

Chloe knew that Lana was going to say that. She knew those would be the words to come out of the other girl's mouth as soon as she had asked that ridiculous question. She felt herself start to hyperventilate just a little. "Lana…fix me a very, very large drink please."

Lana laughed sharply and poured the drinks.

"As you wish." She said, handing Chloe her glass and regretting her own words as memories of _The Princess Bride_ surfaced.

Chloe drank what Lana had given her far too fast, then suddenly screwed her face up and closed her eyes. "Kiss me."

"What?" Lana asked weakly, getting a bit of cold feet.

"Just kiss me and get it over with." Chloe demanded.

Lana frowned. "I don't think it works that way."

"Oh I think it works exactly that way. It's like jumping into a cold lake in summer time. You just have to get in there and get the shock over with so you can get use to the water. Now hurry up and do it before I loose my nerve."

"Ok," Lana took a deep breathe. "Just keep your eyes closed."

"Believe me I'm not opening them."

Lana leaned in and brushed her lips tentatively over Chloe's who stayed absolutely still and incredibly tense. She pressed her lips to Chloe's a little more firmly as the lips under hers started to soften and then gradually respond. Raising her hands to cup Chloe's face, she could feel the kiss becoming charged and heated. She felt Chloe's hands came up to grasp her waist. Lana's hands slid through Chloe's hair as she licked at Chloe's lips and closed her own eyes. Chloe opened her mouth to caress Lana's tongue with her own as her hands slid to Lana's back to hold her close.

The phone rang and they jumped apart instantly.

"Sullivan residence, Chloe speaking." She cleared her throat and tried to make her voice as steady as possible.

"Hey honey, I just wanted to tell you that it looks like I'm going to be staying late at work tonight."

"That's Ok Dad. Lana and I were just going to go out to the movies tonight anyway."

"I'm so glad you two are getting along better. I have to go, but tell Lana I told both of you to let your hair down and have fun tonight."

"Okay, Bye Dad"

"Bye Sweetheart"

Chloe hung up the phone and noticed that Lana still looked flustered.

"We should probably get going so we can eat and make the movie." Lana suggested.

"Yeah, I'll just go grab my purse and meet you in the car."

"OK"

Chloe blushed and Lana walked out the front door.

"I'll be right there." Chloe called after her.

Going upstairs, Chloe noted that her hands were still trembling a bit.

"Ok, Chloe Sullivan, you can do this. It's for a good cause." She started to give herself a pep talk. "And you're going to get to kiss Lana some more. And your thinking this out loud. You're talking to yourself, responding and analyzing the fact that you're talking to yourself. You're most definitely going to end up in Belle Reve right beside Lex after Lana and Clark get done with you both. But hey, it'll be worth it and at least you'll be in good company."

* * *

"Here's how I see it." Lana launched right into her strategy as soon as Chloe got into the car and shut the door.

"See what?"

"Tonight. The Plan."

"Oh?"

"We'll go to the Pasta House, be discreet in the way that screams 'we're being discreet while doing something that we need to be discreet about'. We'll hold hands and sit way too close on the same side of the booth. For desert, we'll split something so we can appear more intimate. When we get to the movies, we'll go in holding hands. It should be fairly crowded. We'll find someone we know who'll recognize us and sit right in front of him or her. Then we'll make out in earnest."

Chloe gulped. "Sounds good. Not too bad."

"Right." Lana's voice seemed different to Chloe. Strained.

"Good." Her own voice was still shaky and she couldn't look at Lana.

Lana started the car. "And we're off"

Chloe gazed out of the passenger side window, trying to think of a way she could get a story out of what they were doing.

* * *

A very long and rather strenuous day working for LuthorCorp had completely warn Gabe Sullivan out. He stared a bit mindlessly at the flickering lights of the television while he mostly pushed around the contents of his microwaved dinner. The opening and closing of the front door startled him out of his trance.

"Hi girls."

"Hi Gabe," Lana responded and Chloe chimed in with a simple "Hey."

Gabe raised his eyebrow to their dampened moods. "Was it a good movie?"

"Sure" Chloe shrugged.

Lana responded in a weary tone. "It didn't seem as long as it should have been."

"Well, you know time just flies…" Gabe attempted to make a lame joke, but in his exhaustion, he couldn't bring himself to complete it.

Chloe groaned "Dad" right on cue.

"Right. Well it's late, so you both better get to bed."

"Bed sounds good. We'll go to bed." Chloe said, strangely enough adding, "Separately, of course."

Gabe raised an eyebrow again. "Uh-huh"

"Of course, separately." Lana bobbed her head. Gabe noticed that she looked a little traumatized.

"Goodnight" Chloe and Lana chorused together and then promptly ran upstairs.

Gabe raised the other eyebrow and answered "Goodnight" to an empty room.

* * *

"Chloe, get down here!" Lana yelled in a shrill voice, instantly setting off the beginnings of a migraine in Chloe.

"What?" Chloe yelled right back down. Things between her and Lana had become even more tense and weird since their little outing the other night.

"Clark's coming up the drive."

"And?" Chloe really did not want to deal with this right now. Or ever. But being honest with herself, she realized that she spent a lot of time dealing with stuff she didn't want to because she was a bit of a push-over when it came to people she cared about. So she caved in and stomped down the stairs.

"You're going to tell him I'm not here and be all bitchy with him."

"Cause I'm your new girlfriend?" Chloe's mood started to brighten with the prospect of having a 'good' excuse to be 'all bitchy' with Clark. She still owed him for messing with her emotions in the Torch a while back.

Lana smiled brightly, passing Chloe on the stairs. "Yep, and I'll be upstairs monitoring the situation."

"This is so weird." Chloe muttered.

Lana called down, "It's Smallville, you should be use to weird by now."

Clark knocked on the door.

Lana whispered loudly "Get the door."

"I kind of figured that out on my own." Chloe whispered back before opening the door with an annoyed look upon her face.

"Chloe, Hi." Clark smiled brightly.

Chloe noted to herself that Clark never smiled that brightly unless it had something to do with Lana. Somehow she didn't seem to need to muster up the bitterness for her required scene with Clark, although after last night she was currently a little confused about whom she was bitter and jealous of.

"Hi Clark, what do you need?"

Clark's smile faltered. "Lana said I could stop by and borrow a book from her."

"You talked to Lana?"

"Yeah, yesterday"

"Oh."

"Yeah. We're going to try to be friends again." Clark said for what had to have been the millionth time in the last few years.

"Great, that's just great. But you and Lana were never really just friends were you?" Jealousy and anger in her voice, Chloe let her little green demon come out to play.

"Is there something wrong?" Clark's face was now twisted into the really confused puppy look he always used when he 'forgot' that he was suppose to meet Chloe somewhere or write a story for the Torch. _'That's OK.' _Chloe thought, _'more fuel for the fire'._

"Wrong? What could be wrong?" The venom in her voice was worthy of a Luthor.

"Nothing I guess. Could you just tell Lana I'm here."

"She's not here."

"But her car's here." Clark pointed out.

"She went for a walk." Chloe countered.

"Alone? But isn't that dangerous?"

"In the middle of the afternoon? Listen Clark, don't go chasing her. She has a right to be alone if she wants to be alone." Chloe mentally derived him for his overactive hero-complex, while also acknowledging that yeah, they lived in Smallville.

"Could I wait here? She said I could borrow a book."

"Fine, wait here." Chloe shut the door in his face and went upstairs to see what Lana wanted to do.

Lana quickly handed her something and shoved her right back towards the stairs, "You're doing great, here's the book."

"Whatever you want oh girlfriend of mine."

Chloe went back downstairs, opened the door and handed Clark the book.

"Here's it is."

"I know Lana's here. You could have just said she didn't want to talk to me." Clark seemed really irritated and put out.

Chloe got an insane and cheap thrill at his anger. "I said she went for a walk."

"I heard her voice." Clark insisted.

"You heard wrong."

"I didn't tell you what book I wanted to borrow." Clark tried to poke holes in her logic.

"Did you stop to think she might have left it out with maybe a note attached." Chloe countered.

"Don't lie to me."

Chloe had to laugh at that. "You know, I don't think Clark Kent gets the right to call anyone else a liar."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"What do you think it's suppose to mean?"

"Whatever, I'll see you around Chloe."

"Whatever!" Chloe slammed the door.

Chloe went back upstairs again to find Lana jumping up and down with a big grin plastered on her face.

"That was perfect!"

* * *

Martha strolled down the snack isle as fast as she could while Jonathon lingered near the Doritos when she overheard some of the women from the PTO speaking in rather loud hushed tones.

"You know what I heard?" Glenda Roberts said with a leer in her voice while noisily chewing bubblegum.

"No what?" Callie Jones asked.

"Gabe Sullivan's daughter is, you know, like that comedian…Helen."

"Who?" Callie screwed up her face.

"That woman with the talk show."

"Ellen??" Both Callie's and Martha's eyes widened.

"Yep, that's right." Her mouth smacked on the gum.

"You don't say?"

Martha prepared herself to interrupt this little gossip fest when Glenda answered back, "Chris Parkinson told my husband that his son saw her with her hands all over that Talon girl that lives with her."

"Lana Lang?" Callie half yelled while Martha mouthed the name.

"Yes! They were kissing and everything. Such a pretty girl too, I imagine she could have any boy she wanted."

Jonathan finally came up next to Martha and 'snuck' a bag of chips into the cart. She motioned him to stay quiet.

"Well, she's been dating Clark Kent, hasn't she?" Callie said that as if it meant something.

"I don't know about that. Those Kents are _so_ reclusive. One never knows what kind of stuff they really get up to."

Jonathon's cocked his head to listen right along with Martha.

"The Sheriff did say that she thought he was a bit _odd_. I suppose that she could have meant _queer_ now that I think of it."

Martha watched as her husbands face turn bright red.

"Well that would make sense, wouldn't it. A young man of that persuasion dates a lesbian to try to cover it up." Glenda rationalized.

Martha had to put a hand on Jonathon's arm to stop him.

"He's always with that Lex Luthor too. And you know what the tabloids say about him!"

"Certainly! Been there and done it all, literally."

The two women giggled.

"You know I even heard that Luthor boy would drive up to the school and pick up young Mr. Kent and take him back to the castle. Alone if you get my meaning." Callie said in between sniggers.

Glenda looked scandalized. "The gall of some people to do such things right out in the open! I remember Martha telling me one day that Clark got in trouble for arriving late to school after Lex Luthor picked him up fifteen minutes before the bus even arrived to take him there, supposedly on his way to work."

"Uh-huh. Doesn't take much of an imagination to tell what took them so long." Callie made a sucking sound and Martha had to step on Jonathon's foot to keep him back.

"Oh, I can't even begin to imagine."

The women giggled, leaving Martha and Jonathon standing in the middle of aisle nine red faced and dumbstruck.


	4. Chapter 4

Martha set the shopping bags on the counter "Let's not overreact now Jonathan."

"I'm not overreacting."

Martha started to put away the groceries, "It's just gossip. The innuendos about Clark and Lex are probably not even true."

"Maybe." He hesitantly said, "but it sort of makes sense."

"I mean I thought something along those lines might be going on a few years ago." Martha concurred.

"We both did." Jonathan thought of the way he tried to warn Clark off Lex without having to actually explain his real concerns.

"Then he started dating Lana…" She handed him the can goods to put in the pantry.

Jonathan continued her thought, "…but something has seemed off ever since Belle Reve."

Martha agreed, "He's been overly protective of Lex, but at the same time more reproachful of him than ever. Whenever we talk about him, I can never predict if Clark's going to defend Lex or condemn him."

"Since then the tension between the two of them just seems to have grown by leaps and bounds. And that room Lex kept of Clark never really made sense to me." He put the cereal boxes away.

"I know. If Lex was studying him, why didn't he keep it all in a lab or somewhere more clinical. The way Clark described it, the room seemed more like a shrine."

"Maybe it was a shrine. It wouldn't be unlike a Luthor to become obsessed with the object of his affection." Jonathan thought out loud, "I wonder how Clark feels about him."

"There's only one way to find out." His wife looked at him knowingly.

"I…I don't know Martha." He didn't want to have to have that talk with Clark. "Clark might not even know himself, at least not consciously."

"I still think you should talk to him about it."

"You're probably right." Jonathan sighed and reluctantly agreed.

* * *

"So I'm at the plant, since I have my job back and all, and I hear what a great father I must be from some twenty year old, purple headed techie with a nose ring." Gabe said, sitting down for dinner.

"Well you are a great father." His daughter agreed a little too readily.

"Do you want to hear why I'm such a great father?"

"I'm sure I know."

"Apparently I'm incredibly understanding and progressive for not only allowing my daughter to date another girl, but taking said girl under my roof so that they could be together."

"You're a really great guy Gabe." Lana added in a saccharine voice, bobbing her head.

"But the thing is that we live in a house built by Luthor Corp."

His daughter attempted to counter his reasoning by using distraction. "Could you pass the potatoes please?"

"Built with extremely thin walls." He passed her the dish without missing a beat and not the least bit detoured by the methods the girls were using.

"This roast beef is just excellent." Lana complimented Chloe while initiating the 'let's just ignore him' mode of defense.

"It did turn out really good didn't it?" Chloe caught on to Lana's tactic.

"And I've never heard a single thing. And after you two went to the movies the other night and were all weird, I made a point to listen. I also know for a fact you two sleep in different rooms, _separately of course_, and that my only daughter who believes in the truth above all things wouldn't keep such a secret from her poor, hard-working dad."

Chloe caved at the last part, "We're pretending to date in order to get the town use to same-sex couples."

"Chloe, don't deny our love!" Lana protested.

"Somehow this scenario I buy. But the question remains: Why exactly?"

"So that when we fix Clark and Lex up, they won't have to deal with so much of the community backlash." Chloe explained.

"We weren't going to tell anyone!" Lana groaned.

"Oh come on, we have to tell him! We live here and he's not stupid."

Gabe tried to come to grasp with the logic of teenage girls, "Clark Kent's gay?"

"As the resident expert, I'd say there's a good chance." Lana answered.

"And you think Lex Luthor would be interested in another guy?"

"Oh come on? I've seen Lex flirt with Clark, flirt with Adam, do obscene things with water bottles and let's face it, he wears more silk and pastels than I do." Lana argued, "And I think I even caught him flirting with Jason once."

He stared in disbelief at the young lady currently living in his spare bedroom, "Obscene things with water bottles??"

"He sucks them." Chloe explained with a dazed look in her eye. She quickly realized what she said out loud to her father, blushed bright red and added "I could have sworn I've saw him check Clark out a few times."

Gabe schooled his features in to one of utter belief, "You know, I think you two girls are right…Come to think of it, when I first met Lex, he kept touching me."

"What???" Chloe looked suddenly ill.

"Yeah, he put his arm around me and everything. I think he was trying to cop a feel." Gabe ducked his head and tried not to laugh at the expression on his daughter's face.

"Oh ewww…" Chloe took her father entirely too seriously, "he was probably just trying to do that Luthor _'I'm getting all in your space'_ intimidation thing."

"No, he wanted me." He kept a straight face.

Lana looked like she was having a hard time not laughing, "It's possible. You're a very attractive and personable man Gabe."

"You're messing with me, aren't you?! Tell me you're messing with me." Chloe pleaded.

Gabe couldn't help himself and started to laugh, "Oh he wanted me. He wanted me bad."

"That was just cruel! And gross! And did I mention cruel?!"

"My daughter is pretending to be in love with the young lady I view as a second daughter while trying to set up my boss with her teenage ex-crush." Gabe managed to stop laughing and took a deep breath, "While I know from experience I can not stop you, I can make you pay."

"That wasn't punishment, that was grave mental trauma." She complained.

"Just a word of caution." Gabe got serious.

Chloe and Lana nodded solemnly.

"Please don't get me fired."

* * *

Clark couldn't help but think about what Lana had said regarding the way he had betrayed Lex's trust and friendship. It wasn't as if he hadn't felt guilt over his actions, but he had always been able to rationalize them to himself enough to push the guilt away. Lately it seemed as if the world had been conspiring to confuse Clark, and the more confused he got, the angrier he became.

Chloe had also thrown him for a loop recently. First there was that god-awful, uncomfortable conversation about sex and Chloe's mystery boyfriend. And she basically told Clark he was her new best friend. Then the next time he saw her, she practically took his head off because he wanted to see Lana who was most definitely there. He could see her skeleton hiding in the upstairs hall.

And he still couldn't get where Chloe got the idea he was a judgmental prude or that he was angry with Lex for having sex. That was ridiculous. The increasingly frequent tension between him and Lex had nothing to do with anyone else. Like he told Lana, it was complicated.

He cared for Lex. According to his parents, he cared entirely too much for Lex, but that was because he was a Luthor and Luthors are dangerous.

On the other hand, they had always taught him not to judge people over things they had no control over. They told him that sons don't always have to become their fathers and for three years he stuck to that conviction. Then Lex began to betray that belief, and if Lex became just like Lionel, what would keep Clark from becoming the son Jor-El wanted. It wasn't the room that pushed Clark into going to the caves with Kara, it was the fact that Lex stopped fighting against becoming like Lionel and started using his own weapons against him.

And Lex had kept that room about him, like some kind of science experiment.

Clark shuddered at that thought. Almost every fear Clark had ever grown up with had been represented by that room.

Clark had bought into the 'friendship of legend' that Lex sold him. He was the only person Clark had ever met who seemed to genuinely get the loneliness and isolation of being an outsider. With Lex, Clark had felt less alone than with anyone else in his life. He had truly believed that no matter what happened, Lex would be his friend for the rest of his life.

The idea that Lex really just thought of him as an object to be studied broke Clark's heart.

Besides, he wasn't the only person Lex treated like an object. Clark sympathized with the women Lex had cast off with pretty trinkets after using them. Even if most, or all of them save one psycho, didn't mind the casualness of their relationships, it bothered Clark to think that Lex had a whole history of depersonalizing people.

Clark heard footsteps coming up the stairs and put down the book he wasn't really reading.

"Dad."

"Son, I wanted to come up here and see how you were doing."

"Fine, I'm just fine." Clark knew he wasn't very convincing.

"I saw Lana stop by here the other night."

"Yeah, we decided to try to just be friends."

"That's great."

"Yeah."

Their conversation wasn't progressing the way Jonathan had planned it. "So, how's Lex?"

"Why does everyone think I constantly know how Lex is?" Clark responded rather defensively.

"I don't know son. Perhaps because you two always seemed so close, even when you spent months apart."

Clark wasn't looking at him. "I don't know if we'll ever be really close again, not after what I found at the castle."

"The Room?" Jonathan could hear the capitalization in his own voice.

"He's been studying me Dad, like some sort of science project. I don't think he even thinks of me as a person. And I can't just let him hurt me, because I think if there's someone on this planet that ever could ever really destroy me, it would be him."

Jonathan sighed deeply at the thought of having to remotely defend a Luthor. He liked it much better when Clark defended Lex and all he had to do was sit in the corner with his little mental 'Beware of Luthors' sign firmly attached to his forehead. "Lex has been in the middle of all the strange happenings of Smallville from day one. And I don't just mean when his father sent him into exile here."

"The meteor shower?"

"Yes. Maybe Lex's curiosity is motivated by wanting to understand what's happened in his life, to his life, and not because he thinks you're a science project. You just happen to be right smack in the middle of all of it with him."

"But Dad, I think we're just destined to not be friends and not to be able to trust each other. Numan and Seget."

Jonathan hated that damned cave. "You think you're Numan and Lex is Seget?"

"Yes" Clark responded, barely above a whisper.

"Refresh my memory on the legend of Numan and Seget, Clark. Tell me the story."

"Numan will fall from the sky in a rain of fire. He'll have the strength of ten men and be able to start fire with his eyes. He'll protect the entire world one day. Seget is like a brother to Numan, but one day he'll turn against Numan and together they'll be the balance between good and evil."

"Well that certainly puts a damper on things if you believe in it."

"Lex thinks Seget is the hero, that he's the brave one who'll go up against the powerful Numan to keep him in check so he doesn't take over the world."

"It's a valid interpretation." Jonathan nodded his head and then added, "Or maybe, just maybe, they're both the heros of this story."

Clark looked up at Jonathan for the first time since he came up the stairs.

"What do you mean?"

"The legend says that Numan would one day save the world. He can't be all that bad since he saves the world. But then again, he could easily let his desire to see save the world and everyone in it get out of control. He could try to help humanity by controlling it, especially if through saving lives day in and day out he saw the very worst that people can be capable of. He might someday want to force people to be nice to each other or to do what's best for them, and with all that power left unchecked he could probably pull it off. But in the process of helping humanity obtain peace, he would be stripping it of its own free-will, the part which makes people human in the first place. If Seget balances out Numan and puts him into check, I would think he's also a hero. The prophesy says that _together_ they'll be the _balance_ between good and evil, not that one is good and the other is evil."

Clark looked a little more hopeful. "But that still means we'll be enemies."

"Two people can oppose one another and not be enemies Clark."

"So you think there's more than one way this could play out?"

Jonathan put his hand on his son's shoulder. "Yes. I think that you and Lex have a choice in the matter."

"I like that interpretation a whole lot better than loosing Lex."

Jonathan sighed again at the pain he heard in Clark's voice with that last statement.

"One thing I've heard consistently with the whole Numan and Seget things is that they are together, in one way, shape or form, no matter what. Also Clark, the picture on the cave wall depicts them sharing the same body. They're two halves of the same whole and they're only complete together. I suppose that's something for you to think about."

* * *

Lana looked up and caught the image of Clark heading her way in her locker mirror. She quickly gathered her things, shut the locker and took off down the hall.

He predictably enough jogged right behind her. "Lana, wait up."

"I've got to get to class Clark." Truthfully she was standing not ten feet from the door and had three minutes till the bell rang.

He looked like a kicked puppy. "I came by yesterday."

Lana fiddled with something she didn't need to while avoiding eye contact with him. "Yeah, Chloe mentioned it."

"Are you angry with me, I thought you wanted to be friends?" He did that flarey thing with his nostriles.

Lana did her best to looked very put upon. "It's not about you Clark."

"Then why are you avoiding me? You had Chloe send me away yesterday and then you didn't even go to lunch today."

"Maybe I'm just avoiding everyone. Things have gotten complicated lately."

"What things?"

Lana mentally laughed as he played right along with her script. "Fine, you're probably going to hear about it anyway soon. I'm in love with Chloe."

Clark burst out laughing.

Lana looked hurt and teary eyed. If art didn't pan out for her, someday she'd be a great Soap Opera actress.

Clark stopped laughing. "You're serious?"

"Yes I'm serious. That dinner and a movie thing we went on Saturday night was a date and Julie Peters and Chad Martin saw us together at the movies and now everyone knows!"

"A date." He stated with that adorable 'I don't understand' look on his face.

Lana added for effect, "and we were sort of … making out at the time."

"You and Chloe were making out at the movies?" Clark practically yelled as three people, including her English Lit teacher, turned to stare at them.

Lana lowered her voice and practically whispered. "Yes Clark! Chloe and I made out at the movies."

"Sorry Lana, it's just a bit…wow." He was definitely in shock.

Lana got dramatically defensive. "I'm not sorry about it and I'm not going to be sorry, no matter what the small minded people of this town say or do."

"Um, Ok."

Lana blinked her teary eyes and looked up at him pleadingly. "You're fine with this, right Clark?"

"Well, I…" She could see the mental light bulb flip on as he seemed to suddenly get his brain back from wherever her news had sent it, "what about Jason?"

"We're over."

"Oh."

"You know, I meant what I said before, I don't want to loose you from my life Clark, but the truth is I love Chloe."

The bell rang.

"I, ah … I need to get class now."

Lana called at him as he retreated down the hall, "Clark?"

"Sorry Lana, I just...I really have to go."


	5. Chapter 5

Gabe tried not to look any differently at his boss since he found out about the girls' ridiculous plan. He really, really tried. Unfortunately he was failing miserably.

"With last quarter's projections well above the predicted expectations, I want to increase the lower level hourly salaries. Could you send out a memo to the departmental managers notifying them to prepare for evaluation of employee performance before the end of the week?"

"Sure." Gabe scribbled a note to himself and then promptly returned to his internal evaluation of Lex Luthor.

The young man wore impossibly shiny shoes whose makers Gabe Sullivan most likely couldn't pronounce, neat black dress pants and a pink silk shirt rather reminiscent of Lana's former wardrobe. And between requests and cost-estimating Lex Luthor was currently 'oh my god' engaged in obscene acts against a blue water bottle.

Gabe chided himself for thinking such thoughts. Lots of people had oral fixations which had nothing to do with sucking on other things belonging to the same sex.

Gabe immediately stopped chewing on the end of his pen.

'It's nothing', he thought to himself. He could of sworn he remember something from his college psych class about oral fixations being related to breast feeding. And love of breasts was definitely a manly heterosexual trait.

"Are you alright Gabe?" Lex seemed genuinely concerned, "You seem a bit…red".

"I'm…it's just that…it's hot in here."

"It feels fine to me. Are you sure you're feeling well?"

"I'm fine." Gabe summed up his courage, "It's just something the girls were talking about last night."

"Lana and Chloe?"

Gabe nodded his head. "Yes. Chloe and Lana. They're interested…er…worried, no that's not the right word. Concerned. Yes. They're concerned about you."

"About me?" He looked visibly upset at someone being concerned about him.

"Yes." Gabe suddenly felt a pang of compassion for Lex. The boy wasn't much old than Chloe or Lana, just a handful of years above Lois. With Lionel Luthor as his main role model where human interaction was concerned, he was obviously stunted. "How have you been?"

"Um, I'm fine."

"So. What have you been doing lately? Besides work?" That couldn't have come out any more awkward.

"I don't think this is really an appropriate conversation for the work place."

"Fine. Let's take a break from work. Go for a walk?"

Lex leaned back on the front of his desk. "You're not going to let this go, are you?"

"No." He simply stated.

"I've been busy running Luthor Corp and dealing with the curve balls my father keeps throwing my way. There hasn't been much time for anything else."

"Ok, um…any romantic prospects?"

"Besides the ones that keep trying to kill me? No."

"Alright…um…so, what have you been doing to relax?"

Lex snorted, "Well spreadsheets usually put me to sleep, but I don't think that's what you mean."

"What about friends?"

Lex visibly stiffened, "Business associates only I'm afraid."

"Lex" Gabe practically sighed his name, "You've got to take some time for yourself. If you don't you'll just burn out. You won't have the energy to deal with the company, Lionel …or anything else this town likes to produce."

"Brandy helps sometimes." Lex remarked sarcastically.

"Alcohol is not the solution," Gabe paused thoughtfully, "and I did not just go after school special with you."

The younger man laughed, "You rather reminded me of Jonathan Kent for a moment."

"Well, I wouldn't know. Barring football games and produce deliveries, the Kents generally don't socialize with the rest of us, not that there's a lot to do around here besides football and farms."

"Maybe I could…well, I have been going to some of the football games. Clark's playing now."

"That's a good idea. When's the next game?"

"It's next Sunday. Are you going?"

"Well, yeah. Chloe mentioned something about wanting me to be more active with school stuff." Gabe smirked mischievously to himself. He had never actually been to one, and the prospect of torturing his daughter by appearing at a school function held a strange appeal. "I think the girls mentioned something about a party at the Talon afterwards. We should attend that too."

"Alright, Since it's on a Sunday I guess it won't interfere with business too much."

Gabe smiled, "It's a date."

Lex looked at him inquisitively.

He blushed bright red again and stammered, "I didn't mean…not like that of course."

Lex laughed again, "Of course."

* * *

Lana and Chloe couldn't help but stand and gawk at the "backlash" they were now on the receiving end of.

"So we were thinking of forming a Smallville pride group for the school." Dan Cormier, the very burly ex-quarterback, finished pledging his support for their 'true love' and equal rights everywhere. A rather interesting group of football players, chess geeks, track runners, and loners had squeezed themselves into the Torch office also offering encouragement and praise for them, relating their stories of 'being in the closet', and making Chloe feel quite a bit guilty for the subterfuge.

"That's great, that you guys feel so comfortable talking about your experiences now." Lana gave her best smile, looking for all the world like she had won some kind of award.

"We just like figured if you two can do it, and be so public about it all, so can we." Jenny, a rather cute bleach blond girl with a page boy cut chimed in.

"Power in numbers, right." Ali, Jenny's girlfriend and Smallville's last African American since the departure of the Rosses, said as she squeezed the other girl's hand.

"How are your parents handling this?" Chloe couldn't help but ask.

"Mine totally flipped of course, but I'm an adult now so they can't really do much." Fitz offered.

"My dad doesn't really notice anything unless you tell him directly, and I didn't. But my mom said that she had already figured it out, and not to bring it up to my dad until I'm out of the house." Ali answered.

"My mom thinks it's a phase, but she's glad I can't get pregnant this way." Jenny said shrugging her shoulders.

"I'm not actually gay, I'm just here to support you guys," Chad 'The Goth' declared.

"I'm glad you feel that way, Chad." Lana started to take over and organize them all in her own way, "I can talk to the principle about making it official and we can come up with some signs and stuff for the football game this weekend. It'll be both nicely public and small enough to test the waters as far as the rest of the town is concerned."

"I can get some t-shirts screen printed for us through my sister." Jack, the reigning tri-state chess champion suggested.

"That would be perfect."

Chloe watched as Lana spent the next half an hour turning her charm onto each of the people gathered in the cramped room enough to make the guys turn straight again and the girls drool. Her 'girlfriend' managed to come up with plans quick enough to implement within the week and volunteered the Torch's advertising for their group.

Half paying attention to Lana and half mentally planning the layout for the next paper, Chloe looked up just in time to see Clark standing in the doorway and staring dazedly at the first gathering of the Smallville Gay, Bisexual, and Lesbian Coalition (SGBLC), as Lana had coined them.

"Well that should be it for now, unless anyone has anything else to contribute." Lana dismissed the group and gathered her own stuff to head home.

Everyone except for Chloe and Lana filtered out of the office and around Clark who seemed to have become an unmovable object.

Chloe cleared her throat, "Hey Clark, what's up?"

Upon hearing his name, he seemed to snap out of his daze. "Oh, um, I just came in to deliver that article you wanted."

"Are you ok?" Lana asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Clark responded while setting his book bag on a desk and digging through it.

Lana gave Chloe a questioning look and Chloe did her best to nonverbally convey the message that Lana should just go. Surprisingly enough Lana got it, picked her own bag up and caught Chloe a little off-guard by kissing her quickly on the lips before she left the office.

The door shut with a very loud click slicing through the silence of the office.

"Here." Clark shoved a disk towards Chloe.

"Clark, we should talk." Chloe accepted the disk and put it down next to her keyboard.

"If it's about sex, I'm going to be out of here before you can blink."

"Literally?" Her joke didn't quite cut the tension. "So you know? About Lana and me?"

He looked at her sharply, "Kind of hard not to, with all the talk going around."

"Um…I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this, us, before you heard it somewhere else." Chloe presumed she would say something like that if she really was dating Lana. The whole thing made her head hurt.

He snorted, "Lana told me, actually. Right in the middle of the hall before fourth period."

Chloe winced. "Are you ok?"

Clark looked her straight in the eye, "No. I'm really not ok right now, but I don't hate you. I'm just confused and I need to sort some things out."

She raised her eyebrows inquisitively, "So you what? Need time?"

He nodded his head, "That would be good."

"Clark, before you go…you know that if you need to talk about this or anything else, you can call me anytime, right?"

"Sure"

Clark grabbed his stuff and left without looking back.

* * *

Clark speeded through his afternoon chores, trying not to throw anything too hard and dwelling on how messed up his love life seemed to be despite the fact he hadn't actually done much dating recently. Deranged seventeenth century witches didn't count. Neither did cheerleaders.

"Clark," his mother greeted him as he walked through the door, "how are you?"

He took a moment to marvel on how everyone seemed to be asking him the same questions lately. "Ok. You know don't you?"

Martha smiled falsely, "Know what?"

"About Lana and Chloe, that's why you're looking at me like that isn't it?"

Martha seemed to sag in both relief and concern. "I overheard something about it at the market the other day. Is it true? Are they…," she made some kind of a gesture with her hands Clark didn't quite recognize.

"Together?" He guessed, "yeah, it's true. Lana told me herself and I…um…I saw her kiss Chloe this afternoon."

Her eyebrows raised at the last part, "Wow. So how are you doing with all this?"

"I'm not sure. I mean, I keep thinking it's not really different from Lana and Jason, except that it's Chloe. And I know that doesn't really make sense, but I guess it'd be more like if Lana were to ever date Pete. It's weird."

"Just because Chloe's your friend and you've had feelings for Lana? Or is it because…you know?" Martha was back to gesturing again.

"What? Because they're both girls? No, I think I'm fine with that." Clark looked up at his mother, "Are you alright with it?"

"Yes! Your father and I have always encouraged you to keep an open mind about alternative lifestyles, so obviously I'd be perfectly fine with it." She declared.

"You've always seemed more liberal, but I bet Dad's weirded out by it."

"You'd be surprised what your father's fine with. I bet you if you brought home a boyfriend for dinner Jonathan would be perfectly accepting of him." Martha felt partially proud that she managed to say that out loud and partially mortified that she did it.

"He would?!" Clark exclaimed skeptically and then blushed bright red, "I mean, I didn't…I"

"Of course he'd be perfectly fine with it, as would I." Martha grabbed his hand, cutting off her son's stammering.

Clark stood speechless until he glanced down to their hands and realized that his were still filthy.

"I should wash up for dinner," he said before bolting upstairs as fast as he could go without using his powers.

* * *

"Smallville's first pride group has officially been formed." Chloe announced to her father at the dinner table.

Gabe groaned, "You two are still going through with that?"

"Sure." Lana smiled brightly. "We're even going to organize some stuff for this weekend's football game. You'd be surprised how many other people came out of the closet when we did."

"But we didn't come out of the closet." Chloe argued, "We just lied and pretended to come out of it."

"Whatever. You know what I mean." She countered.

"What exactly are you going to do at the game?" Gabe asked cautiously.

"We're not completely sure yet, we've just started to get stuff together." Lana replied.

"It's just that I don't want you girls doing anything too drastic. My boss is going to be there."

"Of course he is, Clark's playing." Chloe stated, noticing the over joyous expression that came over Lana's face with her father's statement.

"That's perfect!!" The other girl seemed to almost squeal.

"What's perfect?" Both Chloe and Gabe asked simultaneously in dread.

"I've been looking for a way to approach Lex about all this. Sunday will be perfect!" Lana ignored the warning expression that appeared on Gabe's face.

"Now Lana, this is about Lex relaxing away from work, not hooking him up with a high school quarterback." He told her sternly.

"I won't do anything to make him feel uncomfortable." Lana declared, slightly abashed. "But this will be the ideal opportunity to subtly nudge him towards the possibility."

"Subtly?" Chloe asked doubtfully.

"Yes, subtly." Lana scrunched her face up, "Quit looking at me like that. I can do 'subtle'."

Chloe snorted and then speared another piece of broccoli on her fork.

"I mean it Lana. Don't harass him about this. He's not in a good place right now." Gabe cautioned.

"That's why I'm doing this. To help Lex." Lana looked imploringly at Gabe, "I just think that he shouldn't be alone and Clark could be a really good match for him. They're both flawed and strange in their own way, but they seem like they would go together. Then neither one of them would have to be alone anymore."

* * *

Lana closed her bedroom door while cradling the portable phone to her ear.

"Hey, how've you been?" Jason's voice sounded on the other end of the line.

"I've been fine, been keeping busy."

"School and stuff? Look, I know the separation was my idea, but I've been thinking that maybe I could come back to Smallville this weekend. Maybe for the football game?"

"The football game?" Lana echoed back at him.

"Yeah. I could see you and see how the team's doing."

"How the team's doing?" Lana asked stiffly.

"Sure. I was their coach."

"No, it's fine. As a matter of fact I just spoke to some of them this afternoon. They're good. Things have changed around here a bit since you left, but everyone's fine." She informed him.

"That's good." He said with a sigh. Lana could hear a some people giggling in the background and a female voice telling the others to shut up.

"Anything else?"

"Listen Lana, no matter what happens with us, I'd really would like to be friends. I still don't think that we should keep being involved romantically, but I miss you."

"I've got to go."

"Lana…" He sighed so softly she almost didn't hear him say her name.

"We can discuss it this weekend. Goodnight Jason."

"Goodnight then." Lana listened until she heard the click, then hung up her receiver.


	6. Chapter 6

Sunday afternoon found an expensively, yet casually dressed bald billionaire meeting one of his subordinates and some teenagers for a high school football game. His father would be rolling over in his jail cell, had he not somehow conned his way out. Lex still couldn't figure out how he managed that one, but he would once again have to face the grim task of informing the Sullivans that they wouldn't be safe from the senior Luthor.

The things he did for Clark. If he wanted to relax, sitting out in the cold surrounded by screaming hicks wouldn't be the way to do it. He only agreed to spend the football game with the Sullivans also in order to kill two birds with one stone.

Lex spent countless sleepless nights wondering why exactly he continued to tolerate the younger man's behavior towards him of late or the innumerable lies which had become both quite obvious and ridiculous.

'No Lex! I have no idea who stole your car. Yes, I had asked for $20,000 just minutes before because a friend - cough, Pete Ross, cough - got mixed up in something.'

'Oh, the car was put back neatly covered,' the likely actions of a guilty homegrown Midwest farm boy, 'I bet it was just some really considerate joy riders.'

'No Lex! I just came over in the middle of the night to admire your newest acquisition. I swear I have no idea how it just disappeared right under my nose' and then when Lex tracked down the culprit, the boy just happened to be a friend of Clark and Clark managed to miraculously show up in the nick of time to save everyone.

And that just bugged Lex to death. Clark comes off the hero repeatedly despite his lies, sneaky behavior, dangerous actions and questionable friends. Things Lex has continuously been verbally stoned for ever since he arrived in Smallville.

Adding salt to the wound, just a few weeks later Lex winds up the bad guy because a crazed one night stand decided to stalk him, frame him for murder and try to kill him. He still couldn't figure out how he ended up apologizing to Clark like some kind of guilty, wayward husband.

Of course it wouldn't be the first time he had taken the blame for some event which was clearly not his fault…not that Clark would ever admit going to his father to get Lex to stop his memory treatments was the bad idea that landed him in green goo.

And sure Lex sometimes got in over his head, his father's left over projects for example. But in all honesty, he didn't start them, he didn't like them and he couldn't get out of the government contracts without shutting down the entire company. The other messes he wound up involved in occurred due to his admittedly overactive curiosity or his real concern for someone else.

Furthermore, had Clark not become involved in his own sordid web of events on occasion? Lex seemed to remember reports of the Kents' blown up storm cellar preceding a three month hiatus taken by Clark, which incredulously turned out to be enough to almost double the family debt. Not to mention Clark's most recent disappearance which just happened to coincide with a crooked FBI agent, last reported to be watching the Kent Farm, practically vanishing into thin air. And hadn't that been a fun situation to take care of, though the Kents would never guess Lex had handled the official inquiry behind their backs. Granted he didn't do it on quite so official terms. But he had done it because he felt he owed it to Clark for the admittedly questionable room which Lex had since dismantled.

He truly couldn't understand why he seemed to cling to the vestiges of what might have been an actual friendship once upon a time. He suppose he should just chalk it up to his obvious masochistic streak.

"Lex!" He had the whirlwind of pink and black knocked him out of his brooding thoughts when one overly bubbly Lana Lang decided to run up and throw her arms about him in a very enthusiastic hug.

Ever since he made the mistake of initiating an embrace when he thought she was leaving Kansas forever, he had suffered for it. She seemed to think that she had a right to touch him, ask favors and hang about as if he was her 'best friend forever', and truthfully, he had just wanted to make sure she got on the plane.

It was the primary reason he had to get her the hell out of his house, despite the dangers that had become apparent with Lana living above the Talon. He felt a tinge of guilt about inflicting the ex-cheerleader upon the Sullivans, but he soothed his remorse by telling himself that they were more than happy to have her live with them - which he was sure they were.

"Lana" He tried to sound enthusiastic. "Hello."

"I'm just so happy to see you here!" She exclaimed.

He wanted to ask why, but settled on a decidedly more diplomatic "Thank You".

"Lex. How are you?" A more subdued Gabe greeted him with a handshake.

"Well not that great. There's actually something I have to talk to you about, but that can wait till later." He answered honestly.

Gabe gave him a weary look and Lex instantly regretted telling the truth. He wasn't always the best in figuring out when to lie and when not to.

"Well, you can tell us later," Lana volunteered. "But right now, why don't we go get seated."

"Alright." Lex agreed. He noted that Gabe had been watching Lana with a suspicious wariness during their conversation and couldn't help but wonder if he owed the man more than just bonuses for his generosity. Maybe a small country would do.

Lana steered them towards a section of the stands of which the bottom front was covered with a large paper sign proclaiming the support of a winning game by the SGBLC. Whatever the SGBLC was, the obviously blind artist had decided to decorate it in an ghastly array of pinks against a black background. The thing had massive amounts of glitter on it.

"You like the sign? I did it myself." Lana admitted proudly.

While noticing that Lana and about ten or so odd students were wearing matching t-shirts, Lex managed to smile and respond, "It's very…distinct."

He wondered why on earth he ever thought she might flourish as an artist. Before her abysmal failure in Paris, and he had seen the progress reports which must have been what sent Lana flying back to Smallville, he had just figured she could have hidden depths.

Everyone had hidden depths, didn't they? Maybe Lana's just weren't in art.

She led him up the bleachers with Gabe trailing behind them.

"So Lana, I'm curious," Lex said as he sat on the cold metal bleachers, "what does the SGBLC stand for?"

Lex faintly heard an almost whispered "Oh God" come from Gabe's direction.

Lana turned to him with a preternaturally bright smile, "We're the Smallville Gay, Bisexual and Lesbian Coalition."

He honestly didn't know what to say. For the first time in a long while, Lex's mind went completely blank.

Lex's silence, however, didn't phase Lana.

"We're dedicated to both the support of our members and educating the community in tolerance. While it's not an 'official' school organization just yet, it'll be one after I have a meeting with Principle Reynolds tomorrow afternoon."

"That's…nice." Lex started to quickly regain his equilibrium. Curiosity about Lana's own preference promptly flowed through him. "Can anyone join or are all the members homosexually inclined highschoolers?"

It shouldn't have been possible, but Lana smile widened. "Of course you can join. Most of our members are either homosexual or bisexual and still in high school, but we have Fitz who graduated last year and Chad who's completely straight. Just let me go grab a form from Chloe."

Lana patted him on the knee and then jumped up from her seat, hurriedly wedging herself past Lex and Gabe out into the aisle before the bewildered billionaire could say anything.

"You know, I see Jonathan Kent sitting way over there." Gabe pointed to a part of the bleachers occupied predominantly by adults.

"We should go say hello." Lex suggested.

"It would be rude not to." Gabe agreed.

The two men quickly disappeared into the crowd, making their way towards the relative safety of the Kents.

* * *

"Lex! How are you?" For the second time that day, Lex found his arms full of a suspiciously cheerful female. Martha was quite a bit easier to take than Lana.

"Lex, Gabe." Jonathan stood up and promptly hugged Gabe. Lex was amused to notice that Gabe seemed utterly bewildered until he remembered Gabe mentioning that the Kents generally didn't associate with anyone else in Smallville. "How ya holding up?"

Jonathan was looking at Gabe like someone just died.

Martha loosened her hold on Lex and looked over at Gabe. "We heard…well…you know. How's everyone doing?"

'Oh shit', Lex thought. 'They've found out about Lionel's release.'

"You know?" Lex exclaimed.

"Well it's all over town Lex." Martha informed him.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't stop it. By the time I even found out they had already gone through with it. I was planned on telling you after the game." He apologized and mentally listed the people who could have possibly leaked out the information before the official press release.

Gabe and the Kents just stared at him as if he'd grown a second head.

"How could you have stopped Chloe and Lana from dating?" Martha asked.

"Chloe and Lana dating?" Light dawned and Lex realized they were discussing two different things. "Actually, I thought you were talking about..."

"About what?" Gabe asked.

"Well there's no easy way to tell you this, but I think maybe we should wait until we're in private."

"You're starting to freak me out. Just tell us what it is." Gabe insisted.

Lex looked at the three worried faces before him and gave in. "My father's been released from prison. His conviction was overthrown on some kind of made up technicality. It's more likely that he somehow found a way to pay off or intimidate someone in power…or got somebody else to do it for him. Though I haven't been able to figure out how it was done just yet."

Martha put her hands up to her face and just sat back down. Both Gabe and Jonathan seemed to be frozen in shock.

"I'm sorry." Lex reiterated.

Jonathan just shook his head while Gabe mumbled that it wasn't Lex's fault.

"Hey who died?" Chloe walked up from behind with Lana at her side.

"No one." Gabe answered quickly.

"What's going on then?" The blonde asked.

"We'll tell you both later. You should just enjoy the game right now." Gabe shifted into his father mode.

The girls looked scared and confused, but chose to listen to Gabe and remain silent.

"I think that's a good idea for everyone at the moment." Jonathan added and sat down next to his wife.

Martha grabbed Lex's hand and pulled him next to her. "Come sit with us and watch the game."

Chloe, Gabe and Lana sat down in the row behind him and Martha didn't let go of Lex's hand throughout the match. Lex took a moment to reconsider his earlier thoughts maligning small town football games and settled in to watch Clark win.

* * *

Lana hadn't backed down from her plan, but decided to put it on hold for the meantime. Whatever happened, it had to be bad by the way Lex and the other adults were acting.

Chloe had volunteered them both for a beverage run and they were currently making their way through the crowd. Lana figured the other girl just needed a break from the morose tension that currently filled the stands.

"Lana."

She stopped and turned automatically towards the direction of the voice.

"Hey I was wondering where you were." Jason came over quickly to stand next to her.

"I've been here." She said and grabbing Chloe's hand, resumed her trek towards the concession stand.

"Hello Chloe." He greeted the other girl.

"Hey." She cautiously replied.

"I've been talking to some of the players and you'll never believe the rumors going around." Jason said as he walked beside her.

"Really?" She asked dryly.

"Yes." He continued to prod her for information as he eyed her and Chloe's hands suspiciously. "You haven't heard them?"

"I've heard a lot of things. I wasn't aware of anything especially outrageous." She answered him.

Chloe had apparently decided to remain silent and watch the interaction between Jason and Lana.

"How's your mother?" Lana decided to go on the offensive and cut off whatever Jason was about to say.

"I don't know. You know I don't talk to her."

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Sorry." She replied flippantly. "College going ok?"

"My classes are just fine. Listen Lana, I think we need to talk."

She stopped as the three of them got in line. "You know, I think we said everything we needed to say when you moved. Really Jason, I'm over it. You should move on."

"We're talking later." He proclaimed.

Lana didn't look, but she felt him move away from her.

Chloe yanked her hand. "You told me he knew" she whispered harshly.

"I lied." Lana admitted. "We were over anyway. It shouldn't matter."

"That didn't sound over to me!"

"Well it is. He walked out because he couldn't bare to open up to me." Lana insisted.

"So you're what? Getting revenge for him leaving you?"

"No." She insisted, lowering her voice. "I'm doing this for Lex and Clark. It has nothing to do with Jason."

Chloe looked at her skeptically, "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Lana contended. "I'm absolutely sure."

* * *

They returned with the drinks without further incident. A few minutes before the end of the game Chloe excused herself from their group to go down onto the field and check on her photographer.

"Hey Chip, get some good shots?"

"What?" The mousy teen quickly glanced up at her from behind his camera lens. "Oh yeah. I'll have them for you tomorrow afternoon."

"Good." She nursed the remains of her large hot chocolate and looked around the field, scanning the players on and around the bench. It looked like Jason had decide to leave before the end of the game. Chloe silently thanked whatever God existed up there that she didn't have to deal with him asking her questions.

"So is it true?"

"What?"

"Is it true that you and Lana Lang are going out?" Chip asked while taking a few more shots.

"Oh that…yeah, it's, um, true." Chloe cringed at her poorly executed lie.

"So you've like kissed her and everything?"

"We've kissed." Chloe answered tactfully, "but I don't know about _everything._"

"Wow. That's really cool." He seemed to genuinely mean it, in a creepy sort of way.

"Cool? Please! The dike just couldn't get a real man." An annoyingly singsong voice butted it's way into their conversation.

"Lenore, Melissa, Britney." Chloe bit out towards the cheerleaders. "Drugged any _real men_ of your own lately?"

"Listen dike. You better just watch out. Not everyone in this town is a bleeding heart liberal." Lenore threatened before she walked away, dragging her two cronies behind her.

"Don't listen to them. They're all jerks." Chip offered his support to her in his own clumsy way as he put away his equipment and the players returned to the field. Smallville High had predictably enough won again.

* * *

Chloe watched as Lana worked her magic and rounded everyone in the SGBLC to go over to the Talon.

"You guys are going to the party afterwards aren't you?" Her 'significant other' pleadingly asked the group.

Everyone there agreed to at least stop by for a cup of coffee and Lana seemed to take this as a victory. Chloe wandered how they were faring since officially coming out. She imagined that they had probably gotten a little name calling of their own and once again felt guilty for her and Lana's deception. However she figured it was too late to do anything but follow through with the insane plan, especially since it had taken on more importance than a little match making.

As if her thoughts had been precognitive, some of the football players and several cheerleaders confronted the group as they walked into the parking lot.

"So the rug-munchers and the fags think they can do whatever they like now?" Kevin Baker taunted.

"Just ignore them." Lana instructed the others as she glared daggers towards at the bigot.

"Oh just ignore us little deviants. You really think that'll work?" Melissa sneered at them.

"Get out of my way." Lana said in a low but forceful voice.

"Or you'll do what?" Lenore physically pushed Lana backwards.

Chloe quickly caught Lana as she stumbled back.

Clark appeared out of nowhere just like he always seemed to do when there was a situation.

"I wouldn't do that again if I were you." He warned as he situated himself between the two groups.

"You think you're going to stop all of us Kent?" One of the other players Chloe didn't recognize asked.

He must have been a transfer student. The others seemed to back off as they had a healthy respect for Clark's capabilities. It was something everyone in the small town seemed to know something of, but they never talk about it.

"If I have to." Clark simply replied

"You're one of them too aren't you." The guy got up in Clark's face. "Freak."

Melissa seemed to have gained a bit of courage from the guy Chloe didn't know.

"Yeah Kent." She taunted. "We all know what you get up to with the bald guy up at that god-awful monstrosity he lives in."

Chloe couldn't see Clark's expression and she didn't want to. As Lana huffed and started to come out defending Clark, Chloe heard a deadly calm voice from behind.

"Tell me what exactly you think you know?" Lex walked up beside Clark in full Luthor mode. "I'd really like to hear it."

What Clark's presence alone wasn't enough to do, Clark and Lex together accomplished. The intimidated teens backed off almost immediately and retreated to their cars with mumbled threats and insults.

"You know, maybe we shouldn't go to the Talon after all." Jenny said, shaking.

"No." Lex responded to her immediately. "No. You can't let them intimidate you. If you don't go, they'll win."

"Lex is right." Lana spoke up, "we need to show them we're not afraid. If we show them we're not as weak as they think we are, they'll be more unlikely to try anything."

Chloe touched Clark lightly on his shoulder. He still hadn't turned around, even as the last of the taunters had left in their cars.

"You ok Clark?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You should come to the Talon too." Chloe saw his reluctance in his posture and quickly added, "they might try something there."

Clark's shoulders sagged.

"Yeah, I'll be there." He sighed and walked away.

* * *

**A/N: I just wanted to thank everyone for the wonderful reviews. I'm glad you're enjoying it. It's my first fanfic and everyone's support has really helped my confidence in writing this.**

RaeLynn Skye: Thanks. Hugs you back I tend to start out with the dialogue of a scene and go from there. The plot, however has sort of evolved on it's own. This was originally going to be a completely flippant story, but the more I got into it the more substance seemed to emerge. Oh, and Lex quite plainly informed me that "Luthors don't do flippant", so his stuff's been a bit heavy.

Saber ShadowKitten: Wow! You recced me. I've probably read all of your HP and Smallville stuff, so I feel so honored. Thank you.

CutieCherry: Caffeine, one of the major food groups LOL. I'm glad you like it.

Fred God of: Lex claims it's just mineral water, but I don't believe him. Thanks for the review.


	7. Chapter 7

By the time Clark mustered the nerve to give up the safety of his remote observation of the Talon from the roof of the building across the street, the coffee shop had been packed with teenagers and adults alike.

A great many more people had turned out for the small post football celebration than usual, considering most of the football team and the cheerleaders had elected to avoid it.

Clark suspect that the denizens of Smallville had heard about Lana and Chloe. They were probably hoping for some kind of vicarious thrill of watching the two girls interact together.

He dreaded stepping through the doors. The normalcy he had worked so hard for this year seemed to have evaporated when Jeff Hoskill spat the word "Freak" into his face.

Not that he even liked or respected the other boy before, but it was seeing the people he had tried so hard to emulate behind Jeff silently agreeing with every word the jerk said to him.

While Lex had never so much as touched him in an overtly sexual way, Clark couldn't help but flinch when they had lumped him in with the rest of what they called deviants. He didn't believe they were right, but their remarks had cut deeply into Clark anyway. he had spent the last hour trying to figure out why.

Flashes of dreams about his friend Clark didn't ever dare admit to flittered across his thoughts.

Moments where Clark had felt almost uncontrollably compelled to physically reach out to the other man flashed through his mind and doubt surfaced within him.

Clark had spent _so _much time and energy pushing those things down and keeping them locked tightly away.

He had worked _so _hard to be normal.

Besides the various other emotions he felt when he discovered the room Lex had kept about him, Clark remembered feeling relieved that he finally had a valid reason to push the other man away.

His relationship with Lex had and would never fit in with normal.

But Lex just wouldn't stay gone and Clark's own desire to see him and have him in his life had caused him to break his resolve and tentatively renew their friendship.

He resented his connection to Lex for so many reasons, but somehow during their estrangement, he became conscious of how much he missed and needed it.

The heat of the peopled crowded into the small café hit Clark as soon as he opened the door. The clumps of bodies presented two choices for Clark to take: Lana, Chloe and their new friends or Mr. Sullivan, his mom and Lex.

He turned back towards the door to leave before anyone he knew spotted him.

"Clark" His mother called across the room.

Cursing under his breath, he wondered why he hadn't just used his abilities in his attempted getaway.

Clark reluctantly turned back around to face the direction in which she was currently advancing.

"Lex told me about what happened after the game. Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." He lied.

She seemed to look right through him. "Are you sure?"

He looked into her concerned eyes and ducked his head. "No. I…I think I'm just going to go home. But don't worry, I'll keep an ear out in case anything happens."

"I think you should stay." She put her hand on his arm. "You know what you did was a brave thing? Standing up to those bullies was…well it was courageous in a way you're usually not."

Clark shuffled his feet and swallowed. He couldn't quite bring himself to even look up, much less verbally respond.

"There are several people here who are rather grateful you did what you did. I think you need to see that right now."

"I probably wouldn't be very good company."

"Well running away to brood about this isn't going to improve your outlook on things and it isn't about you being good company. It's about you being around others and allowing yourself to connect with people and not just ideals."

"But I can't. Mom you know I can't ever really do that. You know why."

She sighed. "I think your father and I made a mistake."

Clark jerked his eyes up to look at her. Worries and regrets writ themselves across his mother's face.

"I think we went overboard trying to protect you. We were just so scared that someone would someday take you away from us that we completely isolated you, and ourselves. Before I took this job, I don't think I even realized how much."

"You didn't have any choice." He argued.

"I really thought that we didn't, and I honestly don't know how we could have raised you any differently, but I've watched you Clark. I've seen you pull yourself away from people when they try to reach out to you only to grasp out desperately for that connection when you think you've found someone just like yourself. You did it with Alicia, you did it with Kara and to an extent you've done it with Ryan, Bart and even Lex."

"And you've seen how all those have turned out. Things with Alicia and Kara became huge messes, Ryan died, Bart ran away and Lex…" Clark just shrugged his shoulders.

"Lex what? Admittedly things have happened and he has flaws…huge ones, but he's still here. Despite everything that's happened between you two, he's still here and trying. Do you know he's been to every single football game you've ever played in? And I think you're forgetting some other people, like Chloe and Lana."

He started to protest, but she cut him off.

"I know things are weird between the three of you now, but both girls still seem to genuinely want to be your friend. And Clark, that counts for something."

"I know" He admitted.

"So you'll stay? And try?"

His mother looked at him imploringly and he caved.

"Yeah Mom, I'll stay."

* * *

Lana could practically feel Chloe vibrating with curiosity in the seat next to her. 

"What do you think it is?" Chloe whispered in her ear.

"Don't know? I can't think of anything that would upset Lex, your father and the Kents so much."

"Lionel. I think it's something to do with Lionel."

Lana looked skeptical. "He's in prison for murder."

"Doesn't matter, it's Lionel Luthor."

"Whatever it is we'll find out later. Clark doesn't look too good over there."

"Where?" Chloe jerked her attention away from Gabe and Lex.

"Over by the door talking to Martha."

"Yikes." Chloe frowned. "He didn't seem to handle what happened too well."

"I'm sure not happy about it." Lana seethed. All her life, up until her freshman year, Lana had been a part of the popular crowd. She knew how to play their game and play it well. She could cause just as much trouble for them as they did for her when they decided to insult her and mess with her plans and friends.

"What are you two lovebirds whispering about over there?" Ali drew them out of their conversation.

"I hope you're not dwelling on what happened with those assholes. They're just small minded tools who think high school is everything." Fitz said with a wink. "And this is coming from a former tool."

"Right with you on that." Lana commiserated and raised her cappuccino, which Fitz taped with his soda.

"Chloe, is that your Dad over there talking to Mr. Luthor?" Dan asked. "I think I recognize him from that field trip from hell."

Chloe blushed, sunk down in her seat and answered with a barely audible "Uh huh".

"It was cool the way Clark stood up for us and Mr. Luthor made all those guys scatter like cockroaches tonight." Jenny smiled.

"Probably afraid he'd fire their mommies and daddies." Joan, Chad's girlfriend, snarked.

"More likely they were afraid he wouldn't hire them when they finally get booted from high school and have to work for a living." Chad responded.

Lana laughed with the rest of them and watched out of the corner of her eye as Martha broke off from Clark and he started to tentatively approach their table.

"Hey Clark." Chloe welcomed him. "Sit with us?"

"Yeah thanks." He mumbled and pulled up a chair to their little group.

"You know you're my hero now." Chad batted his heavily lined eyes at Clark.

Clark instantaneously blushed a violent red and everyone giggled.

"Well I try." He managed to respond.

"Seriously" Joan offered. "He doesn't fight well. My little sister's kicked his ass before."

More laughter erupted as Chad and Joan started to throw pieces of napkins and straw wrappers at each other.

"Clark does the hero part well." Lana smiled at him.

Clark gave her a modest smile back and nodded his head.

* * *

Martha felt relieved to see Clark join his classmates and to hear their laughter over the crowd. She didn't think Jonathan really understood her increasing anxiety about Clark's isolation since he wasn't exactly a social butterfly himself, but she had begun to have real doubts about the way they had raised their son. 

The events of the past year sure didn't help: Jonathan's health problems, Jor-El, Kara, the caves, Lionel and Lex's not so private war, and Lex keeping that room. Martha could logically excuse the last one away and she suspected more lay behind Lex's interest than met the eye, but a big part of her had a very adverse emotional reaction whenever she thought of it. It was the same part of her that wanted desperately to hide Clark away from the rest of the world forever.

"Well I think I better head home for the night," Gabe excused himself as he yawned. "Don't want to be dead on my feet tomorrow."

"Well it was fun." Lex shook his hand. "Thank you for inviting me out today."

Martha sighed. Gabe Sullivan obviously thought he had gotten Lex to come out of his shell a little this evening, but she knew darn well that Lex went to every game anyway.

The coach had pulled her to the side one night to make sure she knew.

Maybe Lex meant afterwards at the Talon, but she somehow doubted it.

"Goodbye Gabe" Martha offered him a smile and a hug.

"Bye Martha. See you around."

As soon as Gabe left out the front door, Lex started to gather his things in an attempt to bolt.

The little success she had had with Clark gave Martha the courage to stop Lex and try to clear the air with him.

"Lex, before you go I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Sure. Is it the Talon?"

"No. It's not business. I…um…," she cleared her throat, "I know about the room."

Lex visibly blanched and started to stammer out an apology, but Martha prevented him.

"I don't want an apology Lex. I want to know why. I think I already know, but I want to hear it from you."

He nodded his head. "Alright. I guess I had just became a little too obsessed with the unusual events that tend to occur in Smallville. I put the room together to explore them more."

That had sounded rehearsed. "I'll buy that as part of your reasoning, but not as all of it."

Lex looked increasingly uncomfortable. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"Curiosity doesn't explain the rather large portraits you had of my son in that room."

"He told you about them?"

"I saw them for myself. After Clark disappeared and you ended up in the hospital, I broke into the castle and found the room on my own." She admitted with no shame.

Lex rubbed his face with his hands. "God I really need to get better security."

Martha just looked at him expectantly.

"I don't know what to say."

Lex couldn't seem to muster up the nerve to tell her himself, so Martha did it for him.

"You have feelings for my son." It was a statement of fact rather than a question.

Lex looked away from her and down at his hands. "I care for Clark."

"You're in love with Clark," she clarified.

He seemed to stop breathing. "I…I've never…I wouldn't…he's still kid. I know that."

"I know you've never truly acted on it. But as far as him still being a kid, he seems to be growing up whether his father and I want him to or not."

He breathed out and seemed to relax some as Martha let him off the hook just a little.

"I'm not giving you a free pass to do whatever you want as far as Clark's concerned. I just wanted you…" she sighed. "I wanted to know for sure that you sincerely cared for his welfare. I know Clark thinks that you don't."

"He thinks I don't care about him?" Lex seemed shocked at the thought.

"He believes you've been using him." Martha tilted her head and gave him a small smile. "I've heard the term 'science project' from his mouth more than once since he saw that room."

"Science Project? I wasn't studying him. I just wanted to get past the lies. I wanted…" He rubbed his eyes. "I wanted to feel closer to him. He keeps me at a distance. I try to keep myself at a distance too, but it's just hard."

"I think I understand."

"I don't know how to fix this." Lex admitted.

"Time. You're just going to have to give him time." Martha offered. "And you're going to have to understand that…there are some things about Clark he's not ready to talk to anyone about. He doesn't want to have to lie to you."

He seemed to accept her words. "I guess I'll just have to learn to accept things and not push."

"That sounds like a good idea." Martha agreed.

Lex collected his coat once again and she could see him raising what emotional and psychological shields she'd managed to bring down with their candid discussion.

"If that's all you wish to discuss, I really should head back to the castle."

"Goodnight Lex." Martha rose from her seat as he did and offered him a hug.

"Goodnight…" he hugged her back, "and thank you."

"If you hear anything more about where Lionel is…"

"I'll notify you." He replied, then turned and walked out of the Talon.

* * *

"So what happened?" Chloe asked her father almost as soon as she bounded through the front door. 

Lana walked up behind her and set her purse and keys on the TV cabinet.

"Lionel Luthor was released from prison a few weeks ago." Gabe announced in a tired and grim voice.

"A few weeks ago?" Chloe asked incredulously.

"How come this isn't all over the news?" Lana inquired.

"It happened very quickly. Somehow the legal papers about his release got sealed and Lex hasn't yet been able to figure out how Lionel did it or where he's disappeared to. He's been keeping it quite hoping that Lionel would get cocky and show his hand." He explained.

"You mean he can come after us anytime he wants now?" Chloe shook and started to tear up.

"Oh honey," Gabe pulled his daughter into a hug. "Lionel was released legally, so he probably won't want to get sent back to prison."

"It doesn't matter. Apparently he can get away with murder any time he likes." Chloe said bitterly.

Her father tried to use reason on her. "If something fishy happens to anybody who helped send him to prison, Lionel will be the first suspect. He won't want that kind of scrutiny after everything that's happened."

"Lex still could have told us." Lana complained. "He just left us without warning?"

"He's had security on everyone involved since this happened." Gabe loosened his grip on his daughter and looked at Lana with a calm, comforting smile. "They're better than the usual Luthor security too, they've been watching the house since Lex found out and none of us even noticed."

"You mean the blue car sitting at the end of the cul-de-sac?" Chloe asked.

"You noticed?"

"Yeah, they've just been sitting at various places along the street for a while. I ran their license plates, but couldn't trace the source."

"You didn't tell me?" Gabe asked.

Chloe gave him a small smile, "I wanted to figure it out myself."

Gabe sighed and wiped her tear reddened face. "You two should probably get cleaned up and ready for bed. It's late for a school night."


	8. Chapter 8

For two days, Chloe immersed herself in schoolwork and the Torch. By lunchtime on Wednesday, the entire next week's edition had been laid out, all of her articles were finished and every school project due for the next month had been completed. She was restless.

Figuring that if Lana could find some escape from her problems in her insane matchmaking scheme, maybe it would work for her too. Chloe started brainstorming for ways of her own to get Clark and Lex together. Since just locking them in the same room until they started making out wouldn't work for obvious reasons, Chloe's list was mournfully short.

1. Anonymous love letters - entirely too Jr. High and would undoubtedly result in The Plan being exposed.

2. Group Dating??? - they could get a group of couples together to go to the movies and invite Clark and Lex along as the only singles. But would it work with Lex being the only real adult?

3. Make Clark Jealous - too easy and volatile, but maybe further down the line if he's being especially difficult.

Her e-mail pinged and Chloe jumped at the chance for a distraction and opened it up hoping it wasn't just junk mail.

To: Chloe Sullivan  
From: The Mack Daddy  
Subject: What's up?

Hey guess what? I'm bored out of my mind and Dad says I can visit sometime soon, so I was wondering if you would be so kind as to put me up ;) since you guys have the extra room and all now.

I know. I know. My homesickness is insane. I'll probably be attacked by mutant clowns or something while I'm visiting, but I'd almost welcome the familiarity. It could be just like old times. One of us will get kidnapped (I hence forth volunteer) and the others (led by good old Clark) will come to the rescue.

Or we could go to the movies and eat lots of popcorn.

Write back soon.

Pete

Chloe grinned. Leave it to Pete to distract and cheer her up when she least expected it. She promptly wrote back.

To: The Mack Daddy  
From: Chloe Sullivan  
Subject: Come on over baby!

I didn't tell you! I can't believe I didn't tell you! The pink princess moved back in - only she wears more black now since her return from gay ol'Paris. And I'm not kidding about the gay part (you'll find out when you get here).

Nevertheless I offer you the use of my humble, yet extremely comfortable couch for the duration of one weekend.

I also accept your offer of movies and popcorn, though you're going to have to go it on your own with the mutant clown thing. I've been enjoying the drought of meteor freak sightings of late.

But I also have to warn you that things are far from dull in ye old town.

Like the other thing, you'll find out when you get here.

See you soon,

Chloe

PS. This weekend, right? - I'll tell my dad.

Chloe quickly sent the e-mail, then minimized her browser.

"What are you so happy about in here?" Lana asked, suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

"Pete's coming to visit, hopefully this weekend. He wants to do movies and popcorn." Chloe swiveled her chair around to face Lana. "And I've got a tentative addition to add to The Plan."

"Oh really?" Lana raised her eyebrows teasingly. "What may that be?"

"A group date where Clark and Lex are the only singles. Of course we don't tell them that it's a date." Chloe scrunched up her face thoughtfully. "But I keep coming up with the problem of how to get Lex there."

"He won't want to hang out with a bunch of highschoolers." Lana agreed.

"He probably wouldn't do it even if it were a group of people his own age."

"Unless of course there was another, official reason for him to go. Like someone's birthday party or a Luthor Corp. event."

"A birthday party would have too many people there and Luthor Corp event would be even worse. There'd be press and society people all over, watching his every move."

"Too bad we can't get him to chaperone something…

"…like with our new friends…" Chloe continued Lana's thought.

"…an official school group outing, since the school charter states that we have to have at least one responsible adult at all school sponsored activities. Maybe movies and popcorn?"

"Perfect."

Lana smiled widely, "Thank you."

"You got the group official then?"

"This morning." Lana nodded her head. "Principle Reynolds thought he could put me off and not have to deal with me, but he gravely underestimated my tenacity."

"How did you do it?" Chloe wondered aloud.

"I got Chad's girlfriend to help me break into his office before he got to school today and then waited for him with enough filled out paperwork, ACLU information and precedence that he caved within ten minutes."

Chloe shook her head. "I don't envy him. The community backlash is going to be something horrible."

"Maybe, but the point is that community recognition is being given to alternative lifestyles for the first time ever in Smallville." Lana smiled a little too evilly and put her hands together ala Montgomery Burns. "And my Plan is coming along quite nicely."

* * *

Lex's headache couldn't get any worse. None of his investigations into the judges or other officials with the power to overturn his father's conviction had yet to yield any results. 

Gabe Sullivan was also still alternating between spacing off at odd moments, looking at Lex with concern and readily blushing with no apparent cause.

And the conversation that let him know that Martha Kent officially knew he was in love with Clark kept replaying itself in his head, getting worse the more he dwelled on it.

He was waiting for a corporate takeover or some kind of other disaster to hit at any moment when his phone beeped.

"Yes?" Lex asked.

"Sir, this is Anthony at the front gate. A Miss Lana Lang is here to see you." The voice on the other end announced.

"Oh hell." Lex cursed aloud to the empty room, then hit the intercom button again, "Send her up."

A few minutes and a quick drink later, she waltzed through the doors to his office.

"Lana," he put on his best smile. "How are you?"

"Well sort of depends on what you're going to say when I ask you for a favor." She replied

'A favor - surprise, surprise' Lex thought to himself. "Well that depends on what is it?"

"I need you to chaperone a school outing."

Lex did a double take. "What?"

"It's for the new school group I've put together. We need an adult and no one else will do it." She explained.

"But I'm not a parent or a teacher."

"That doesn't matter. You're well above age and a responsible pillar of the community."

"What about Gabe Sullivan?" He worked for him. Lex would make the other man do it if necessary.

"He would, but he's Chloe's dad."

"So that would logically make him the perfect choice." Lex pointed out.

"Lex, it's going to be a social event and Chloe and I will be together…" Lana broke out her award winning sad princess face. "…socially."

"So you think it'd be uncomfortable." Lex stated.

"You wouldn't want your Dad chaperoning you with one of your lovers." Lana actually batted her eyes at him.

'He'd probably sleep with them or it'd be apart of a scheme to try to murder me before the night was out,' Lex thought to himself.

He looked into those sad puppy dog eyes, knew that there was no other solution the girl was going to except and sighed resignedly. "When would this be?"

* * *

As soon as Clark had really gotten into the book Lana lent him, he realized she had suggested it because it took the subtext of Dorian Grey and made it text. 

Though he did wonder why if she was going to give him such a blatant hint, it hadn't been a book about two lesbians.

The narrative also had some especially descriptive passages. Clark found himself both clandestinely enjoying it and hiding it very well from anyone else who might catch him reading it.

The book was kind of like porn.

"Hello Clark"

Clark yelped and jumped so far up into the air, he thought he might have floated a bit. Not really thinking, he quickly threw the book into the corner of the couch like it was on fire and tossed a small pillow over it.

Belatedly trying to correct his mistake, he bent down and acted as though he were merely straightening the couch and fluffing up the pillows.

Gradually, Clark turned around to a very amused guest. "Hey Lex."

"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything," Lex's eyes darted down to the pillow and hidden book. "I called up, but I don't think you heard me."

"No," he admitted. "I was distracted…um…"

"Reading?" Lex supplied the answer for him.

"Yep. I was reading." Clark winced at his own words. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to check on you. I know we haven't talked about it, but you seemed shaken up after the events of last Sunday."

"I'm fine. Those guys were just loud mouthed idiots."

It did shake Clark up a little bit, but he was over it by now.

"Good. I wouldn't want to think that those rumors really offended you."

Clark blinked a bit in confusion. For some reason, Lex's statement had just sounded odd.

"They didn't" He assured the other man who was currently looking at him with a penetrating gaze which made him involuntary shiver.

"Cold?" Lex had noticed his reaction.

"It's a bit chilly up here." He grabbed the jacket flung over his desk chair and put it on.

Clark turned back around to find that Lex had moved across the room to stand close to him.

"There was something else I was kind of hoping you could help me with."

Clark's sight involuntary wondered to the scar on Lex's top lip, then promptly snapped back up to look him in the eye.

"Sure, what is it?" Clark asked, wondering why his mouth had gone dry all of a sudden.

"Lana."

The girl's name hit Clark like a bucket of cold water.

"Lang?" He asked.

"The one and only." Lex smiled. "I think she's up to something."

Clark wrinkled his forehead. "Something to do with you?"

"Yes. She came to see me earlier tonight," Lex told him. "She wanted a favor."

"What kind of favor?"

"She wants me to chaperone her new school group's first official outing this weekend." He looked a little amused by it. "I've just got a feeling something's happening that I don't know about."

"Did you say yes?" Clark grinned back at him, already knowing the answer.

Lex shook his head and smiled. "She started to get that look in her eyes like I'd be stomping on her puppy if I didn't do it."

Clark snickered. "You're really so easy sometimes."

"Only for the right person." Lex shot back.

Looking into each other's eyes, Clark felt the pull to draw closer and touch him like he hadn't felt for months.

"I've missed this." Lex spoke so softly he almost whispered.

"Me too." He admitted.

Lex kept looking at him in a way that made his stomach flip.

"I don't know," Clark broke the spell.

"What?"

"I don't know what Lana's up to." He explained.

That seemed to snap Lex out of his daze.

"Oh well, I guess whatever it is can't be all that bad." Lex moved away from Clark and towards the stairs. "It's a school night and getting late so I should probably go."

"Be careful driving home."

"Thanks, I will. Goodnight Clark." Lex said as he walked down the stairs.

"Goodnight," he lent over the balcony and called down.

* * *

"I know. I'm sorry. I'm late." Clark said as a way of greeting, walking in to the Torch Thursday morning. 

Chloe held out her hand for his article and raised her eyebrows at the suspicious lack of contrite expression on his face.

"What's your excuse this time?"

"I, ah, had a bit of writer's block?" He answered with a statement turned question.

"Writer's block? And it just miraculously clear up last night?"

Clark smiled and ducked his head. "Some inspiration came to me."

His response sparked Chloe's natural curiosity, but she decided to let it go.

"So. Are we ok now?" She asked as she popped in his floppy and copied his article to her hard drive.

"Yeah." He smiled. "We're ok."

"I wasn't upset over you and Lana because you're both girls." He continued. "I know you probably thought that, at least a little and I want you to know it's not true. I've thought about it and I think it was more because you're one of the best friends I've ever had and she's the girl I was always suppose to grow up to love and marry."

Chloe just stayed silent and listened to what he had to say.

Clark sat down on the edge of one of the desks and kept going. "Having you date her was harder than when she came back with Jason because I guess I couldn't just dismiss you like I did him. And it sort of caused me to realize that what I thought was going to happen with Lana never will."

"You're not jealous about Lana then?"

"No." Clark acknowledged for the first time to both Chloe and himself. "I'm not."

"You know, since we're ok now, I was wondering if you would maybe want to go out to the movies this Saturday. Pete's coming back for the weekend and Lana's got a trip all planned out to go to Metropolis so we can see something on a decently sized screen."

Clark grinned, "The trip she roped Lex into chaperoning?"

"She just asked him yesterday and he told you about it already?"

"Uh huh. He thinks she's up to something." Clark narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. "You wouldn't by any chance know what it is, would you?"

"Really? He thinks that?" Chloe put on her most angelic face. "I wonder why."

Unfortunately she didn't seem to be able to fool Clark. "You know what it is, don't you?"

"Why do you think I would know what it is if there were anything to know about in the first place?"

"Quit answering my questions with a question."

Chloe just shrugged and looked up at him innocently.

"Fine." He gave up. "I see that nothing short of torture is going to get you to rat out your girlfriend. But just know, I'm watching you two."

Chloe smiled and changed the subject. "Are you going to go with us Saturday?"

Clark smiled. "Why not."

* * *

**A/N: Thanks again to everyone who took the time to review and/or rec my story.**

CutieCherry: You had to work New Years Eve? Yuck. I hope you at least got off early. I'm really happy you're enjoying it. feels all warm and fuzzy and feeds you more chapters

Fred God Of: You may currently thank my record updating to a bout of insomnia. You have so much more time when you just don't sleep. J I'm also very flattered that you like my story enough to compare it with an official book, though I've never read one of them. I tend to stick to fanfic.

StephanieIrvine04: I'm not quite sure about Chloe and Lana, but there is some hope they might decided to get together. Either way, they're certainly going to come to a new appreciation and understanding of each other.

Nameless 'n' Proud: Oh, The Plan is going to start having some interesting consequences soon. Just wait until after their little weekend trip.


	9. Chapter 9

A knock and the opening of the Torch door caught Chloe's attention and caused her to turn around.

She jumped up from her computer and hugged her formerly MIA friend. "Pete! You're early."

"Yeah well, we had a half day with teacher conferences and I thought I'd check out what's going around here."

"Around Smallville High? Um, not much." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Chloe, you should know that you suck at lying." Pete smirked at her.

"Well can we at least wait till we get back to my house for me to tell you the truth?" She asked.

He looked at her apprehensively "Ok. Where's Clark?"

"Actually, he should be getting out of class, but I don't know if he's going straight home or not."

"I've got practice this afternoon, but I figured I'd stop off here first since I heard a rumor you were back." Clark appeared right behind Pete.

"Clark, my man." Pete grabbed Clark's hand and pulled him into a hug. "Are you getting taller?"

"No, it's just been a while since you had to crane your neck up to look at him." Chloe said sarcastically.

"Ah the griping of the vertically impaired, I've missed having it in stereo." Clark snarked back.

Pete made himself comfortable sitting on one of the desks, with his feet in the seat of a hard plastic chair. "So give me the scoop. What's been going on? Who's dating who? Etcetera, etcetera."

Clark just looked at Chloe, refusing to answer Pete's question.

"When we get back to my place Pete." Chloe put him off.

"The school gossip requires the privacy of your house? And why do you two keep making faces at each other?" His suspicious look returned.

"Um…" Chloe attempted to come up with an answer to his questions, only to be cut off by Lana rushing into the room with Jenny and her sister trailing behind her.

"Chloe open your e-mail."

Quickly taking the diversion Lana gave her, Chloe promptly opened her e-mail to find an anonymous message with the subject "Smallville Football Bloopers".

"You want me to click on this link?"

Lana nodded her head.

Everyone crowded around Chloe's computer, except for the two girls who came in with Lana. They seemed to pointedly not want to see it.

Upon opening the media file, the only thing Chloe could think to say was "Oh my god."

"Holy…" Pete exclaimed. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Yep." Lana seemed creepily cheerful. "It's Lenore Spencer, Kevin Baker, Melissa Jones and Chris Thompson all in a very compromising position."

"I did not want to see this." Clark mumbled from behind Chloe.

"Where did this come from? Who sent it? Oh my god!" Chloe felt almost as nauseous as Clark looked.

"My brothers pay money to see this kind of stuff all the time." Pete added.

"Lana, did you do this?" Chloe asked.

"What?"

"Did you have something to do with this?" She repeated her question.

Lana didn't look a bit guilty, "not all that much."

"What did you do?" Clark asked while Pete continued to watch the video file without blinking.

"I might have sent the e-mail." She confessed, chin defiantly held high, flashing a grin.

They all looked at her silently.

Her grin faded. "It's not like I made them all have sex with each other, filmed it or put it on the internet. I just found out about it and sent the e-mail."

Pete tore his gaze away from the computer screen. "Why?"

"There was a bit of an incident last Sunday." Chloe explained. "Look, it's not that I'm sorry for them at all Lana, but it might have been a bit much. Does anyone else know you did it?"

"Just you guys and Jenny and Mandy."

"It's not going to be traced," Jenny volunteered.

Chloe's attention shifted off of Lana and onto Jenny.

"You helped?" Chloe asked.

"I set up the anonymous e-mail for her to do it with and broke through the encryptions keeping it from being copied." She elaborated.

"I don't want to know anymore." Clark broke away and headed for the door. "I'm going to go to practice and pretend I don't know any of this."

Chloe waited until the door shut after him. "Did you send it to all of Smallville high?"

"Students and teachers."

She just gaped and closed out the media player.

"Must have been one heck of an incident." Pete commented. "What did they do to deserve this?"

"They were hostile bigoted jerks." Lana defended herself. "They wouldn't have left us alone unless we hit back at them, and people don't have to know that one of us did it. They just have to suspect it."

Chloe looked at her critically. "Next time I go overboard on something, you don't get to say a word."

"Anyway, that's not the only reason I'm here. Mandy come here." Lana reached out to the shy sophomore standing next to Jenny and steered her over to stand by Pete. "Pete Ross, this is Mandy Mason. Mandy Mason, meet Pete Ross. He's your date this weekend."

"Date?" Pete asked.

"Chloe hasn't told you yet? We're going to Metropolis tomorrow. It's a group thing, and you need a date." Lana enlightened him.

Chloe watched as the poor girl Lana had by the hand seemed to shrink back even more with the added attention and confusion.

Luckily Pete seemed to pick up on Mandy's distress and quickly smoothed out the situation. "Wow, I come back for the weekend and you've got me a date with a girl prettier than any in Wichita. Thanks Lana."

Mandy smiled brightly and blushed a very pretty shade of pink.

"Your welcome Pete. Now I hate to just take off, but I've got to run some errands this afternoon and I'm going to drop Jenny and Mandy off at their house, so I'll see you guys later tonight." Lana gave Chloe a quick kiss on the lips and rushed out of the room with the other two girls following.

Pete let his mouth hang open for a while. Chloe didn't answer his unspoken questions.

"Lana just kissed you." He stated the obvious.

"Uh huh"

"But…" Suddenly his eyes lit up like a light bulb just went off in his brain. "Gay!"

"Yes." Chloe answered and quickly added, "but it's not what you think."

"_Gay_. Chloe you're telling me now. Not when we get back to your house, cause I just can't wait that long."

"Ok, ok!" Chloe got up and locked the office door. "Pete, you've got to swear to me you won't tell anyone else, especially not Clark."

"Why not Clark?"

"Pete swear it or I won't tell you. You might want to tell Clark, but you can't. Now swear to me you'll keep it a secret."

Pete looked at Chloe with wide eyes. "You're human, right?"

"What?" Chloe could only imagine that came from whatever knowledge Pete had on Clark that she didn't, mentally filing away the 'not human' bit of information. "Come on Pete, promise me."

"Fine, fine." He held up his right hand. "I swear that I won't tell anyone, including Clark, what you're about to tell me."

"Good." Chloe took a long breathe and steeled herself. "Lana and I are pretending to be lesbians and dating, but we're not really together."

He raised his eyebrows. "Are you gonna tell me why? Or is it some weird vengeance thing for him stringing you both along for years?"

"No, it's not revenge." Chloe lent back against her desk, opposite to the one Pete was currently sitting on. "We're trying to set him up with someone."

"By pretending to be lesbians?" Pete looked lost.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry Chloe, but _huh_?"

Chloe tried to remember how Lana had first explained it to her, but now that she had to repeat it to someone else, she couldn't quite find the words to explain their reasoning. "We're trying to encourage him to come out of the closet by setting an example and doing other things."

Pete gave her a strange and weary look. "What other things?"

"Things like this group outing tomorrow."

"Wait a second. Out of the closet? You think Clark's gay?"

Chloe nodded. "Lana actually thought it first. But after a little investigating, I think his interests could run outside of the regular, conventional relationship and with someone in particular."

"Wait, I think I've got it. You and Lana think Clark's gay, so you're pretending to be lesbians while secretly setting him up with another _guy_." Pete burst out laughing.

"Ok, so it's a little silly, but I think it's kind of working."

Pete laid his head on his folded arms and shook with laughter.

"You're not going to tell him, are you? You promised," she reminded him.

Pete took a moment to catch his breath to reply. "And ruin this great plan of yours? Not a chance. I'm just glad you got me front row seats for when this all blows up this weekend."

"It's not going to blow up" Chloe said indignantly.

Pete just looked at her with mirth in his eyes, still trying to get himself under control.

"It's not!" She half yelled.

* * *

Clark finished his Saturday chores with the help of a little extra speed and arrived to meet Lana, Chloe and the others at the Talon precisely at noon for their daytrip. Far from his parents being cautious about a trip to Metropolis without their supervision, his mother was practically ecstatic when he let her know about it and his father just told him to have fun. Of course, he wisely hadn't mentioned Lex was their responsible chaperone.

"Clark, you ready for this?" Pete asked as he approached the clump of people in the middle of the coffee shop.

"Sure, I guess. It's just a movie, right?"

"Sure. Yeah. Right."

Clark thought Pete seemed pretty amused with something. "You know, don't you?"

"What?"

"Whatever Lana's planning. I know it's got something to do with Lex." Clark answered.

"Lex! Lex Luthor, that's who they mmrpf…"

Chloe came up to them and covered Pete's mouth in the nick of time. "Hey Clark, how you doing?"

Clark frowned. "I'd be better if you'd let Pete speak."

"Now if I did that, then Pete might end up breaking certain promises made to one of his best friends about a secret. I know you wouldn't want to be responsible for Pete's inability to keep quiet now would you." Chloe said as she gave Pete a very stern look and gradually eased her hand off of his mouth.

"You and me are going to have a little talk later." Pete promised her before looking at Clark, shaking his head and moving off to the counter to buy something.

Clark narrowed his eyes. "I'm watching you guys."

"Watch all you like Clark." Chloe smiled and then looked past Clark. "Hey Lex."

Clark half turned to find Lex standing behind him.

"Lana's marshalling the troops as we speak, so if you want to get something before we leave, you should do it now."

"Ok." Clark replied.

"If either of you guys are going to get something, could you make sure it's got a cover on it? I don't want a repeat of last year's milk chocolate incident in my car." Chloe looked pointedly at Clark.

He blushed. "I said I was sorry and cleaned it up."

"It went in my hair, Clark. My _hair_!"

"It could have been worse. I could have gotten sick."

Chloe looked like she was going to be sick herself. "Ok, it's official. You don't get to eat or drink anything before we go _or_ during the drive."

"Lana didn't mention she planned on all four of us riding in your car." Lex interrupted.

"Oh, she must have forgot. My car gets the better mileage, so we usually take it."

"I have a car." He gestured to the Porche parked in front.

Chloe scrunched her nose up. "Not one you can take on a nice anonymous trip with a bunch of teenagers. All your cars stand out too much."

Lex frowned. "There are other high end cars in Metropolis."

"Yes, but they don't all have Lex written in someway on their license plates." Chloe pointed out. "Anyway, it's no big deal. I'll have you know I have one of the safest driving records in the entire county. You'll survive."

Chloe wandered off to get her own last minute things as Clark watched Lex's anxiety over what kind of car he would be riding in with amusement.

"Clark, what kind of car does Chloe drive now?"

Clark smiled. "A Toyota. A very small Toyota."

Lex whitened. "Toyota?"

"Yep. It's kind of a weird bluish green color, but the way the paint's chipped it kind of has a neat white and rust pattern to it."

The other man looked appalled. "How long has she had it?"

Clark grinned gleefully. "Only a month or so. It's used."

* * *

Clark hadn't ever ridden in the back of this car before, but the way Lana threw her purse in the front passenger seat clearly indicated that he was going to have to.

Hunching down, Clark tried his best to balance as he got into the back seat but instead wound up half falling on Lex. He finally managed to move himself off and into a sitting position.

Conscious of just where exactly his hand fell when he tried to regain his equilibrium, Clark blushed and stammered out a "Sorry".

"That's alright Clark. It's a bit small back here." Lex brushed himself off.

"Sorry about that you guys, we'll scoot the front seats up as far as they can go." Chloe apologized.

Clark could see Lana silently laughing in the front seat before she moved her seat up only a few inches.

"Better?" She asked.

"Sure." Clark lied.

Clark and Lex were both squeezed in so tightly they couldn't help but have their knees touching or their arms so close to each other that they constant bumped each other every time they moved.

Clark reddened further at the constant heat coming from his left and tried to think about kryptonite.

Chloe started up the ignition and pulled out onto the road and Lex tensed up even more next to Clark. He leaned more to the right, seeking comfort almost instinctively.

Clark's entire body tingled from the heat of Lex's.

"Are we all meeting up at the multiplex?" Chloe asked Lana.

"No." She took a sip of her coffee. "We're going to meet up at the Denny's across the street before the movie. It doesn't start till five o'clock."

"Denny's? What's that?" Lex asked.

"A restaurant." Lana giggled at his confusion.

Clark felt Lex shrug.

"I've never heard of it."

Clark nudged Lex with his shoulder and grinned as the girls laughed. "I guess tonight will be one of firsts then."

* * *

**A/N: I'm seriously blushing from all this praise people. Thanks again. **

Saber ShadowKitten: Thanks for the constructive review. I'm trying to integrate the fun in with the angst, so the story might swing closer to one extreme or another every once in a while. I'm not quite sure how that part's coming off yet. Clark and Lex just have so many issues this season that I didn't want to just magically get them together without having them touch on some of those issues.

treetracer: You registered just to comment. Wow. Thank you. I was planning on posting it on SSA when I get it finished and find someone to beta the final product. LLMM still feels a little rough to me, so I'd like to get it polished up first.


	10. Chapter 10

By the time the piece of tin disguised as a car finally arrived at it's destination, three hours of teen age gossip, in-depth analysis of a television program called the O.C. and the musical stylings of Avril Lavigne had left Lex thinking longingly of his last run in with Lana. It's wasn't as if he enjoyed the bloodied hands, but the music had definitely been better.

The only comfort he had was a tiny nerve pill disguised as an aspirin and the steady presence of Clark practically cuddled up next to him.

Of course, the sight of Clark bent over, trying to get out of the backseat did cheer him up. It wasn't as if Lex had made an effort to ogle his friend's ass, but he wasn't about to pass up the opportunity when it was just right _there_.

"Lex." Chloe called him out of his stupor, holding the door open.

"Oh. Sorry."

He managed to get out with a modicum of grace to find her smirking at him as he rose.

"Nice view?" She asked before walking away to follow Lana and Clark into a shabby looking building.

Swallowing down whatever paltry excuses and denials came into his head, he quickly closed the door and caught up to the small group.

"Hey Lex? You know those two burly guys in the black Sedan that followed us all the way from Smallville?" The young reporter asked.

"Security detail." He simply stated.

Chloe just nodded her head. Lana and Clark, however, both looked around to try to figure out who they were talking about.

His security had definitely improved recently. Chloe Sullivan noticing that someone's following her was fairly inevitable. On the other hand, it would have been inexcusable if either Lana or Clark had noticed.

The two young women he had assigned to watch over the Kent Farm from a distance had impressed Lex the most. So far, he hadn't had to endure one irate phone call or visit from either Jonathan or Clark about their presence.

"Can I help you?" A woman with whose name tag indicating she would be their hostess greeted them.

"Yes. We need some seats over by those people." Lana pointed to the unlikely party of two men unmistakably built like football players and a couple of Goths.

"Follow me."

As they all followed her to their table, Lex took in the well worn red carpet, plaid valences hanging over the windows and smell of greasy food. 'Clark must feel right at home here' he thought.

The three teenagers said their hellos to the others and sat down next to him at the table they had been shown.

"How long have you guys been here?" Chloe asked them.

"About ten minutes." The Goth boy answered. Lana had said his name was Chad when she introduced them back at the Talon. "We would've been here longer, but Joan made me drive the speed limit."

"He didn't drive the speed limit." Joan pronounced.

"It was closer than usual. Anyway, what movie are we seeing again?" He asked.

"The Life Aquatic since you guys refused to see any chick flicks or the Leonardo DiCaprio movie." Chloe replied sourly.

Dan snorted. "Hey! I remember you two making it clear you didn't want to see any of the new horror films out. It was only fair."

"We get enough of super powered psychos and aliens at home, thank you very much." Chloe snarked.

Lana screwed up her face. "We haven't had any aliens yet."

Lex choked on his water and Chloe started to reply but began laughing instead. The humor became infectious. Looking at Clark's expression, Lex couldn't help but laugh along with her.

"Hey guys. What's so funny?" Pete came up with his group to sit at another adjacent table.

"Pete, we haven't had aliens yet. Have we?" Lana asked.

He got a distinctly deer-in-headlights look on his face and managed to stammer with a straight face "Aliens? I don't see any aliens."

This only served to cause Lex and Chloe to laugh harder.

"In Smallville," Lana clarified, as if Pete were mentally deficient. "We haven't had any alien things happen in Smallville yet? I mean I thought it was all mutant stuff."

"I…um…I don't think so." He replied and quickly sat down.

Lex tried to get himself under control, but every time he managed Chloe would start giggling again or he would look up to see Clark glaring at them.

"Mutants?" Ali asked.

"Haven't you ever seen someone back home do something totally bizarre?" Dan asked her.

"Yeah like stretch funny or be in two places at once?" Fitz jumped into the conversation. "And then there was that one time Chloe made everyone tell the truth whether they wanted to or not."

"I was only like that for a little bit." Chloe managed to respond between chuckles.

"A temporary mutant?" Joan asked.

"To be fair, she got better." Lex commented.

More laughter erupted.

"You guys are crazy." Ali declared and opened a menu. "Mutants? Like I'm gonna fall for that."

No one volunteered to explain any further about Smallville's lurking oddness and the laughter settled down enough for the waitress to brave her way over and take their orders.

Lex sipped his coffee while the other teenagers chatted idly. Everyone except for Clark, whose glare had turned into a full fledged pout.

Lana slipped out of her seat to go to the restroom and Pete quickly sat down in her place. "So do any of you guys actually know Mandy?"

"I know Jenny and that she's her sister. That's about it." Chloe gave him a sympathetic look. "Is everything going alright over there?"

"I don't know. She hasn't said more than five words to me since we met, and that includes 'Hello'. Do you know what she likes or anything?" He asked pitifully.

Chloe shook her head 'no'.

Clark cleared his throat and spoke up. "She's on the computer club, writes fiction and plays video games."

"How do you know that?" Chloe asked him.

He shrugged. "I saw her name on the roster somewhere. I remember she had a story published in a magazine sometime back and I overheard Jenny saying that she couldn't hardly drag her away from her computer games sometimes."

Pete brightened. "Thanks man. I owe you one."

He clapped Clark on the shoulder and got up to return to his date.

"You know, sometimes your abilities really come in handy." Chloe remarked.

Clark's glare picked back up in full force and he didn't reply.

Chloe leaned over the table.

"Hypothetically," Chloe glanced around until she saw that Lana had decided to pull up a chair to Chad's table on her return, "if there were an alien in Smallville, I'm sure he…or she… would be a very nice person who was well respected and loved by his friends despite their teasing."

'Aha', Lex thought. Chloe either knew or suspected. He figured she would have amassed as much evidence as he had, if not more, on the mysteries surrounding Clark. And apparently, she had come to the same conclusion he had. Moreover, she must have presumed Lex knew from either Clark or his own observations.

It felt good to have someone not treat him like he should be blind, deaf and dumb.

Clark, on the other hand, had shrunk back into his chair. Lex was absolutely positive that if he hadn't been in public surrounded by people who knew him, the young man would have bolted faster than he could blink.

"And hypothetically," Lex spoke up, "this alien's friends would completely understand the need for secrecy. They would most likely be very sorry if they ever in any way endangered his secret, even if they were only laughing."

Clark just looked over at him with a blank face. Sometimes Lex just couldn't read him.

"That's all either one of us are going to say tonight Clark," Lex assured him, "so lighten up and have fun."

"Have you guys finished everything?" Lana interrupted them.

Chloe frowned. "We're not going already, are we? We'll be an hour early."

"It'll take us ten minutes to get the cars and drive them around to in front of the theater. We've also got to get twelve decent seats and some of the guys want to get popcorn."

"Popcorn sounds good." Clark observed.

Lex stared. He knew from experience that the boy could consume vast quantities of food, but it never ceased to amaze him.

"You just ate a Grand Slam with extra pancakes in record time." Chloe looked apprehensively at him, probably thinking of the safety of her car and hair.

Clark just smiled. "What do you expect? You wouldn't let me eat before."

* * *

The movie passed with little to no incident until upon exiting the theater, Chloe ran smack into Fitz's back. 

"Was it suppose to rain?" Jenny asked.

"Nah, it was all suppose to go north." Chad responded.

"We are north." Joan pointed out.

"Oh yeah. I forgot."

Chloe edged her way around Fitz to see out the front doors. It wasn't just raining, it was a torrential downpour.

"What's going on?" Lex pushed his way up front.

"Um, I can't drive in this." Jenny looked fearfully from the weather outside to Lex.

"None of you can drive in this." Lex stated and then popped his cell phone out of his jacket and moved away to talk to someone.

After a brief conversation, he walked back up to them. "I've called some cars to come pick us up and take us to my penthouse until the rain lets up. If it doesn't, you may have to spend the night so I suggest you use this time to call your parents."

"Why can't your drivers just take us back to Smallville?" Pete asked.

Lex looked at him exasperatedly. "Because driving slowly around Metropolis a short distance in this weather is completely different from attempting a long drive on the highway."

Pete sulked while the rest of them used the next fifteen minutes passing around cell phones and talking their parents into possibly letting them stay the night away from home.

* * *

Clark had spent the majority of the movie quietly brooding over how incredibly exposed he had felt tonight, until he took the time to stop thinking about everything that could go wrong and feel how much weight had been removed from his shoulders. 

Lex and Chloe knew.

He had already suspected that they had seen so much, they would think he was a meteor mutant or something, but he hadn't really considered that their assumptions would be so accurate.

In the lobby of Luthor Corp Towers the others chatted excitedly about the possibility of getting to spend a Saturday night in Lex Luthor's penthouse, even if they would only be sleeping.

Clark trailed to the back of the group. The penthouse always made him think of red kryptonite, running away with Lex and loosing control.

Something must have shown on his face because Chloe fell behind and put an arm around him as they walked to the elevators. "Have you been here before?"

"No. Lex's talked about me coming up here for the weekend, but we never got around to it."

She looked at him with concern.

"I…I just thought it would be under different circumstances, like for graduation or when I started MetU." He confessed.

"Like when you would move away from Smallville and really start your life?" She asked.

"Yeah." He sighed and continued voicing his thoughts. "You know when I ran away a few summers ago?"

She nodded.

"I was just…I know it's stupid, but I was angry with him for not being here."

"Everyone thought he was dead."

"I know. I went to the funeral." Clark confessed. "I hated that he was gone. I didn't even get a chance to save him, he just left and I couldn't reach him."

Chloe squeezed him. "Well he's here now, in perfect reaching distance."

* * *

After a quick tour around the penthouse, which reminded Clark strongly of Lex's office, the rest of his classmates congregated in the media room. 

Lex had pretty much fled from the group into his office at the earliest possibility.

Clark found himself wondering into the living room. He stood at the balcony window and stared out into the rain for what felt like an eternity.

"Why are you in here in the dark?" Lex approached him, not bothering to turn on any lights.

"I'm just looking outside."

He stopped right next to Clark to look out. "It's not much of a view right now."

"Yeah. And it doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon." Clark agreed. "So, you finally decided to venture out of the safety of your office?"

Lex smirked. "I did have to check my messages. Anyway, I figured the comedy channel's keeping them pretty busy right now."

"Sure." Clark grinned as he watched Lex's reflection in the glass.

"It is peaceful in here." Lex commented and settled into watch the rain.

"I'm glad you know." Clark broke the silence which had quickly filled the room. He turned to face his friend with a new outlook on life. "I've been afraid of so many things for so long. Losing Lana. You and Chloe figuring it all out. You turning away or being afraid of me. And now it seems like I had nothing to fear all along."

Turning from the window and towards Clark, Lex looked him in the eyes. Clark could feel their connection thrum to life.

"I'm not afraid and I wouldn't ever turn away from you."

"I know that now."

Clark took a deep breath and closed what little distance remained between them. Touching the side of Lex's face with the back of his knuckles in a strangely familiar gesture, he leaned in a pressed their lips together. It was a quick, chaste kiss and Clark soon pulled away, looking for a reaction.

Lex wasn't breathing.

"I'm…," He started to withdraw and apologize, but Lex pulled him back and covered Clark's mouth with his.

Clark closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around Lex as the other man proceeded to claim his mouth. They parted their lips and their tongues met, massaging each other. Clark whimpered as Lex did nothing short of taste him. He felt dizzy. Breathless. Like he had jumped off of a building again and was falling through the sky.

Eventually their kiss subsided and broke off, leaving them holding each other. Clark buried his face into the crook of Lex's neck, embracing him as tight as he could without causing damage and relaxing into the repetitive motion of the hand caressing his back.

"Clark, I hope you know that I'm not going to let go after this." Lex whispered into his ear. "I don't think I could even if I wanted to."

"Good." Clark whispered back.

Clark thought about his other fears: diamond earrings, payoff trucks, Lex disappearing in another flight. He hoped he could learn to let go of those too.

* * *

**A/N: **Ok, I have to admit it. Having just written my first kissing scene and put it on display, I'm a little nervous. Any advise on how to approach these kinds of events in a story without it coming across mechanical or unnatural would be highly appreciated. And as always, thank you for all the wonderful reviews. 

ty-rant84: Oh god, I'm contributing to Lana love. Bows head in shame. I actually like my version of her too. Unfortunately I don't have a mailing list, but if you log into and go to e-mail alerts, then to author alerts, you can enter my penname and you'll get a notice every time I submit a chapter.

Khassa: In my story, Chloe's old car blew up when she let Lois drive it so she had to get another one. There was a mutant turtle involved. Don't ask.


	11. Chapter 11

Clark held Lex for several minutes, reveling in the sensation of having him close. Finally pulling back, he initiated one last kiss when the living room lights suddenly turned on.

"Oh my God!" Pete stood stiffly in shock at the other end of the living room.

Clark yelped, practically jumping out of Lex's arms. "Pete!"

"You…and you…and him…Oh My God!" His friend bolted out of the room and down the hall.

Clark quickly ran after him, catching up easily and halting Pete's flight by grabbing him by the arm. Looking around to see if anyone could be listening, Clark pulled him into an empty spare bedroom for good measure.

"We need to talk about this Pete!"

He shook his head wildly, still in shock. "No! No we don't man. We really, really don't."

"You can't tell anyone." In his state of panic, Clark tried not to just grab and shake him until he agreed. "You have to promise me you won't tell anyone."

"What are you nuts!" Pete started to regain a little of his composure. "Chloe and Lana…"

"I don't care about Chloe and Lana." Clark cut him off. "You can keep their secrets for them! What can't you keep this one for me?"

"Are you actually accusing me of not keeping your secrets?" Pete looked really angry. His nose was even doing that weird flaring thing.

"No." Clark quickly tried to calm down and do some damage control. "All I'm saying is that I don't want anyone to know about it right now and if our friendship ever meant anything to you, you'll forget what you just saw. Please!"

Pete seemed to think about what he said for a minute while Clark looked at his friend with all the desperation he felt.

"Fine Clark." He agreed.

Clark didn't think his expression was as agreeable as his words.

"I'll keep everyone's secrets." He bit out. "I'll try my damnedest to repress what I just saw. And you can all hang yourselves on your own damn ropes."

Pete stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

* * *

Lex's brain, which had more or less shorted out as soon as Clark kissed him, repaired itself and snapped back to attention after the two boys fled from the living room in such haste.

He had kissed Clark. Ok, so Clark had kissed him first, but he was the adult. Clark was an impressionable teenager still in high school.

It was official. Lex was going to hell and Martha, upon hearing about it, was probably going to send him there. She had been clear on "not giving him a free pass to do whatever he wanted as far as Clark's concerned."

Lex had translated that as, "You better take care of him and for god's sake, wait till he's an adult."

Martha had also told him not to push about Clark's secrets, and not only had he tread a thin line earlier where that was concerned, he had given Clark a whole new set of secrets to keep. He loved Clark and this relationship between them couldn't possibly be good for him. Lex had to let him go…except he meant what he told Clark. He couldn't even if he wanted to.

Headache coming back full force, Lex walked down the hall towards his office where he knew he had Tylenol and a bottle of liquor, only to be confronted with a very pissed off Pete Ross storming out of one of the guest rooms and slamming the door.

"He's all yours man and I won't tell a soul. I hope you're finally happy!" Pete sneered at him before moving off towards the media room.

Having no real response to that, Lex resumed walking down the hall and into his office. He rummaged around in his desk drawers, found the red and white bottle, popped open the lid and downed the maximum dosage.

A small knock bounced off the oak of his office door.

Silently, he begged for it not to be Clark. He just wasn't ready to deal with it right then. "Come in."

One of Lana and Chloe's new friends gently opened the door and came into the room. Her name was Joannie…no that was the Goth girl. This was Jamie or Janie…Jenny.

"Jenny." He said tentatively. "How are you?"

"I'm ok." She shyly came forward. "I just wanted to thank you for everything you've done for us in the past couple of weeks."

"No need. It's been my pleasure." He lied.

"No really. You've were great with everything that happened last weekend and today you took time out of your schedule just so a bunch of kids could go have some fun. You've practically given up your whole weekend and I really wanted to thank you for that." Jenny was absolutely sincere. It reminded him that he was a bad, bad man.

"Well, you're welcome." He managed to get out. Lex hadn't done anything for them, not really. He stepped in last weekend because Clark, Chloe and Lana were involved and those football players just really pissed him off.

And the only reason he had taken this little trip with them was because Lana Lang was a little manipulative pink pit bull when she wanted something and he couldn't say no. 'Someday she would make a great society wife.' He thought. 'Any charity lucky enough to get her on it's side would have all the funds that it ever needed.'

"You know you remind me of my father." Jenny commented, still standing in Lex's office. "Not that you're that old or anything, it's just that you're really understanding, courageous and kind of modest about all the nice stuff you do."

He was a bad, bad man. "I'm not all that..."

"But you are." She interrupted him. "It takes a lot of courage for a person in your position to stand up for us. I mean you can tell by the last election that people like us aren't exactly politically correct anymore. Even the people who don't care who we fall in love with or not don't want to get involved and I'm not stupid. I know you're a business man and your image has to stay somewhat conservative, but it's like you value us as people more than you do what everyone else thinks."

Lex tried to ignore all of the girl's misplaced compliments. "You shouldn't have to be thankful someone values you as a person."

"I know, but I am…and I just wanted to say so."

* * *

"Is Lex in there?" Lana asked Jenny as she came out of a door at the end of the hall.

"Yeah. I was just thanking him for today." She replied.

"Yep. He's great. I just have to talk to him about some stuff."

"Oh, ok. I'm going to go back in with the others."

"That's probably a good idea. They're talking about ordering pizza, so you should go tell them what you want." Lana told her as she opened the door to Lex's office and went inside.

"Lana." Lex greeted her, setting down the glass of scotch he just poured. "What do you need?"

"I just wanted to talk to you about the sleeping arrangements." She launched into her idea to turn this little overnighter into an opportunity. "I've got it arranged between the three bedrooms and couches so that everyone will be sleeping with someone appropriately platonic, but I can't seem to figure out where to place Clark."

He took a drink and nodded for her to continue.

"We can fit three people into each of the King sized beds in two of the guest rooms, two people in the smaller bedroom and a person each on the couches in the living room and TV room, but that leaves us one short and logically I thought that Clark could just sleep with you."

He choked on his drink, but quickly recovered. "Absolutely not."

"Why not?" She willed herself to look innocently confused.

"I'm suppose to be the chaperone." He answered her. "It wouldn't be appropriate for one of you to sleep in the same bedroom as me."

"But everyone knows that you and Clark are just good friends."

He paled just a little and Lana thought for a moment she might have overplayed her hand.

"It doesn't matter what everyone knows. Certain appearances have to be maintained." Lex stated.

"Well what do you suggest?" She asked him.

"There's another empty bedroom behind the kitchen for the staff." He punched a whole in her strategy. "You can use it."

Admitting defeat for this round, Lana started to head back out the door. "Thanks Lex, that'll work."

Before she could shut the door behind her, Lex called out to her. "Oh and Lana"

"Yes."

"Have everyone up by 8 am. I want to leave Metropolis by 9 at the latest."

"Sure." She pasted on a smile and silently cursed at the missed opportunity.

* * *

Chloe woke up before anyone else, found the coffee and settled herself down for a cup while she mentally replayed the odd behavior of her friends from the previous evening.

Pete was fuming about something and not speaking to anyone. Clark went back to sulking, while alternating randomly between anxious, depressed and angry. Lana obviously didn't get her way with something and henceforth pouted for the rest of the night. And Lex…well, he probably did the smart thing by locking himself in his office, avoiding them all and then going to bed early. She envied him.

And as if speaking of the devil, Lex came walking through the kitchen door and headed straight for the coffee. "Is everyone up?"

"I think so." She reverently nursed her caffeinated bliss. "You know, I'm thinking that we shouldn't have teased Clark like we did at the restaurant."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I think something happened to set him off again. His bad mood made a reappearance again last night after you went to bed."

He stiffened like he knew something about it.

"Did you guys get in a fight last night?" She asked.

"No." He didn't look up at her. "We barely spoke."

It was entirely too early in the morning, but her instincts were screaming at her to wake up and figure out what happened. However Lex was a tougher cookie to crack than Clark, so she opted to change subjects.

"So when are we heading back?"

"The drivers should be ready at 8:45 to take you guys back to your own cars. I'm going to drive one of the cars I have up here back to Smallville myself." He explained, taking the sting out of his comment by smiling. "And I think I'm going to buy you a new car. That thing can't be safe."

She snickered. "Your fear of my car is really starting to worry me."

Lex scoffed. "You're delusion that that piece of metal is actually a car is starting to worry me."

In the middle of their resulting laughter Clark walked in. Chloe took one look at his demeanor and registered that Clark had indeed shifted out of brooding mode and into angrily determined mode.

"What's so funny?" He asked them.

"Oh Lex is just threatening to buy me a new car. His phobia of my baby's going to cause him to drive back all alone." Chloe mocked.

Clark got a wicked look in his eyes. "Oh Lex won't be alone. I can ride back with him."

"That's alright Clark. I'll be alright." Lex countered.

"But I'll miss you." Clark smirked as Lex nearly burnt himself on his coffee. "And besides, Chloe's car is really too small for me."

"You could sit up front." Lex stated.

"And come between two people so obviously meant to be together? Even for a moment…I wouldn't think of it." Clark replied.

Ok, something had definitely happened. Chloe was sure Lex and Clark were carrying on a whole different conversation from the one that they were having and that she just couldn't translate it yet.

"Fine Clark. You want to come with me? Well I think it's time we had a little talk." Lex challenged.

"So do I." He agreed.

"Fine!"

"Fine!" Lex quickly walked out of the kitchen, having gotten the last word in.

"That was interesting." She commented.

Clark seethed and didn't bother to acknowledge her.

"You want to tell me what that was all about?" She asked him.

"No." He snapped at her.

Chloe decided to ignore whatever fit he was having and resume drinking her coffee.

* * *

Clark and Lex drove in silence for a whole hour before either one of them spoke.

"You avoided me last night." Clark accused him.

"Yes." Lex admitted.

"And? What you're just going to pretend nothing happened?" He felt hurt and couldn't understand what happened between them since the kiss.

"No. It just that…I don't know how this is suppose to work."

"You said you weren't letting go. You promised."

Lex sighed. "I know and I'm not. I'm just…"

"Freaking out." Clark answered for him.

"A little." Lex agreed. "You're still in high school Clark."

"So this is about you being older than me?"

"Yes. No. It's about me being an adult and you still being a adolescent."

"I'm not a child." He stated defensively.

"But you're not an adult either. You're not ready for this yet."

"I'm ready. I'm going to be eighteen in a couple of months." Clark protested.

"The fact that you think that will solve everything only proves my point Clark."

"I don't understand."

"I know."

"Well can you explain it to me?"

Lex took a deep breath. "You behave and react to things too immaturely to have a serious relationship."

"I act immaturely." Clark said in disbelief.

Lex kept his eyes on the road and didn't respond.

"When do I act immaturely?"

"You jump to conclusions, don't discuss things, take your anger out on people who don't deserve it, react impulsively, judge others by a moral standard you don't apply to yourself and react harshly when others don't live up to your standards. You lie so much it's like second nature to you, you take others for granted and you don't take responsibility for your actions." Lex vented his frustrations.

"If you think that, why do you even want me around?"

"Because I care about you."

"How can you care about me when you think I'm so awful?"

"You're not awful. You're a teenage boy and most of those traits simply come with the territory. For the rest of it I make allowances." Lex shrugged. "You're also compassionate, sometimes generous to a fault, protective of the people you care about, brave and self sacrificing. You're just not an adult yet."

"When have I done those things?"

"You stole my car to bail Pete Ross out of a bad situation and lied about Bart West stealing something that belonged to me."

"I'm sorry I lied to you about the car, that was wrong." Clark conceded. "But I was just trying to protect my friends and do what was best both times. And the manuscript is a map is a part of where I came from. It didn't really belong to you in the first place."

"Funny, I remember paying for it."

"Just because you pay for something doesn't mean it belongs to you."

Lex didn't respond, but instead pulled off the main road onto a smaller one, stopping at the end when they got to an old abandoned scenic turnout. He unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the car.

Clark did the same. "What are you doing?"

"I'm not having this conversation trapped in a car with you while driving." Lex said walking up to one of the fences to lean against it and look out at the view.

Clark waited for him to start speaking.

"You went to my father to keep me from remembering a part of my life that's still lost to me and then lied about what you knew, putting your secret ahead of my welfare and making a decision for me that you had no right to make. I don't even want to get into your accusations, telling me I was becoming as bad as my father one moment and then asking why he hated me so much the next, like I deserve his treatment."

Clark closed his eyes, remembering how he lashed out at him in fear and anger. "I shouldn't have said some of those things. I was scared. I told you before that I was only trying to protect you and I just didn't know what to do."

"But you didn't. You protected yourself and my father."

He could hear the anger and bitterness in Lex's voice.

"Those experimental treatments you were doing were dangerous. Garner almost killed me and he would have just hurt you if you continued to go to him."

"Clark. Do you even know how you ended up in that tank?"

"Lionel told me that he was going to have you put back into Belle Reve again and when I confronted Garner put me in the tank."

"My father and Garner were working together to get you there. He was in on it and he manipulated you."

"You never told me that." He felt stupid for never guessing it.

"You blamed me and wouldn't listen to a word I said. If you weren't lying to me in the first place, you could have warned me about it and we could've discussed it like adults, but you didn't."

"I was trying to protect you. I made a mistake."

There was another brief period of silence between them in which Lex turned around to study Clark.

"You and Chloe's cousin almost got Chloe killed last summer, you know that? You're little hunt for her which included digging up the grave in broad daylight, searching the internet on a computer my father had monitored and Lois Lane's little visit to my father's jail cell are what tipped him off that she was alive in the first place. And you had the nerve to act like I did something wrong by hiding her in the first place."

"I wouldn't have helped Lois if you had told me she was still alive and what was going on." He protested.

"When Clark?" Lex yelled. "When should I have told you? You ran away _again_, to god knows where because I sure as hell couldn't find you, after declaring that you wanted nothing to do with me. Then you suddenly show up out of the blue and begin your little quest. By that point, I was already too busy trying to fix what you had done to worry about letting you in on everything."

"I didn't run away." Clark said angrily. "It wasn't my choice."

"Really? You had no choice in your disappearance? Considering it coincided with our fight, the evaporation into thin air of the FBI agent investigating you, Pete moving to Wichita and Lana leaving town, I find that hard to believe."

"I didn't want to leave." He insisted. Clark thought about how easily he fell for Jor-El and Kara's trap. "I just trusted the wrong person."

Lex nodded in acceptance. "I'd believe that."

"And while we're bring up the past," Clark said bitterly. "Why don't we discuss some of your mistakes and lies, since we're being all adult about this."

"By all means."

"The Nicodemus flower." Clark simply stated.

Lex winced. "That was three years ago and we found a cure."

"Followed by the truth serum you had in development and the nightmare inducing virus you had produced." He pointed out.

"Those were all accidents. Hamilton wasn't suppose to be working on that project. Chloe was only exposed because she broke onto private property and neither the truth serum nor the virus were my projects to begin with. I was just cleaning up Dad's messes."

"You expect me to believe you had no interest in the effects of the meteorites? That you weren't the least bit responsible for what happened with those experiments when you allowed them to continue the way they did?"

"In hind sight, I should have stopped them." He admitted.

"I know you care about people and wouldn't want to hurt anyone, but it's like you just don't think anything can go wrong if your involved. You want to believe you can be in control of things that are uncontrollable and it's dangerous."

Lex remained silent.

"Things in my life are uncontrollable all the time. It's one chaotic mess after another and I most of the time I can't tell the truth without endangering someone. I don't just do it for myself."

The other man nodded.

"But that's not what scares me most when it comes to you." Clark said shakily. "You have this way of not always seeing people as people."

Lex's head immediately snapped up to look Clark straight in the eye. "When have I done this?"

"Shannon Bell, Eve Andrews and every other person you've used for sex."

He gave a strangled sort of laugh. "Clark, I know I apologized to you about that, but you know what? I did it to keep our friendship, not because I was the bad guy in that situation."

"You don't think you did anything wrong?"

Lex scoffed. "No, I don't. Not everyone agrees with your small town morals. I'm an adult and I've had a sex life. I shouldn't have to apologize for that. I didn't cheat on anyone and I never led any of those women on. They were all consenting _adults_ and they used me as much as I used them. I didn't deserve to have one try to frame me or kill me for it. And I didn't deserve to have my best friend berate me for something that was none of his business when I was the victim."

"You were one of the victims Lex. The may have used you, but it doesn't cancel out the fact that you used them."

"I think if this happened to Lana, you wouldn't react this way."

"Lana wouldn't sleep around." Clark regretted his words right away.

"So I had it coming?"

"No. That's not what I meant." He replied. "In case you don't remember, I did everything I could to clear you."

Lex looked away from Clark. "Well don't stop there. Tell me who else I've used and not treated like a person."

"Me." It hurt Clark to say it out loud to Lex. "You investigated and studied me for three years."

"I know you think it…but I've never thought of you as a science project. That room wasn't about figuring out your secret, I already pretty much knew. It was about being close to you."

"It wasn't just the room." Clark admitted. "Before your father had you committed, you saw me get hit by another car and not get hurt. You stared at me like some kind of freak show and said that 'I wasn't even human'. Like I was something less. You looked at me the exact same way I always feared you would when you found out.."

"I don't remember."

"I know. I wasn't just protecting my secret by lying to you. I didn't want to see you ever look at me that way again."

"I'm sorry I did that. I don't think of you as less than human…I just wasn't myself."

Clark thought about all the times he said that to other people when he had been on red kryptonite and saw how remorsefully Lex was looking at him. "I believe you."

Lex let out a breath he had been holding in and rubbed his eyes with his hand. "I really didn't mean to get into all of this. I wasn't going to just unload on you the way I did."

"I think we needed to clear the air." Clark said, feeling much lighter despite the harsh things they had said to one another. "The point is…actually I don't remember my point."

Lex laughed and Clark smiled.

"You're too young for this relationship."

"So what do you want to do? See other people until you think I'm ready or just give up on it altogether?"

"Neither." Lex looked a little defeated. "We're going to have to take this slowly and be really careful about it."

His stomach leapt and he crossed the distance between them. "Can I kiss you again?"

Lex nodded and Clark leaned in to kiss him.

* * *

"So?" Clark asked after they returned to the car. "How did you figure out that I'm an alien?"

"Let's see…I hit you with my car and you bounced off, I've got countless security recordings I've had to erase showing you moving so fast you're a blur, and you've demonstrated exceptional strength on more than one occasion. The Kents just happened to find you on the day of the meteor shower with which other people had reported seeing a UFO. There were the octagonal disc made of extraterrestrial minerals, the strange spores and parasites which didn't come from this planet, but seemed connected directly to you somehow. You get sick around the meteorites faster than anyone else does. And your blood, of course."

Clark groaned, thinking of how obvious it sounded when Lex listed all his evidence out loud.

"You definitely over identify with the story of Numan, which is about a super strong alien arriving with a meteor shower and who can shoot fire from his eyes." Lex paused. "Can you really shoot fire from your eyes?"

Clark blushed. "Only if I think dirty thoughts."

* * *

**A/N: **This chapter turned out surprisingly longer than I anticipated, I hope everyone made it through. But you didn't really think I'd let them go without at least one discussion about their issues, did you? And as always, thank you for the reviews. 


	12. Chapter 12

"Chloe Sullivan! Lana Lang!" Gabe yelled up the stairs. "I want you both down here right this minute!"

Gabe Sullivan wasn't what anyone would call a strict parent. He often thought he should be a little tougher on his daughter, but frankly he didn't know how to. Every time she would look up at him with the tiniest bit of hurt in her eyes, he simply wanted to hold her and make the tears go away.

However, Chloe and Lana had gone too far this time.

They came running down the stairs shortly after he called for them.

"What's wrong Dad?" Chloe was dressed for school, but still hadn't put her shoes on.

He tossed the Monday morning edition of the Inquisitor towards her.

"Lex Luthor has Wild Party with Gay High school Students." She read the headline aloud.

"What?!" Lana tugged on the newspaper so she could read the story over Chloe's shoulder. "Sources report that a group of teenagers from Smallville High School spent Saturday night in Lex Luthor's penthouse."

"Oh my god! Dad, none of this happened."

"I know. The Inquisitor has a nasty habit of finding out a few facts and then constructing stories around them." Gabe stated. "However, I just thought you might want to see what your meddling has produced."

"We didn't mean to do this." Lana protested. "It's not our fault they wrote this story."

"What are we going to do?" Chloe asked.

"Nothing." Gabe replied. "You two are going to do absolutely nothing but go to school today. There will be no meddling, no plots and NO matchmaking. Do I make myself understood!"

The girls looked up at him with wide, teary eyes and simultaneously apologized.

"But I just want to help. I feel really bad about this." Lana offered.

"No." He stood firm.

* * *

"Did you guys see the paper today?" Chad asked as Chloe and Lana approached the front doors of the school. 

The nodded glumly.

"Why are you so sad?" Joan asked. "It's great."

Chloe's eyebrows shot up. "What's so great about the Inquisitor making up stories about Lex?"

"Not the Inquisitor." Chad answered. "The Ledger. A sex video with four of those jerks was e-mailed to everyone in the school over the weekend. They've got a whole two pages of articles about it and 'The Decline of Morals in America'. Didn't you see it?"

"No." Chloe admitted, taking the newspaper he handed her. She had almost forgotten about the whole thing over the weekend.

"What article about Lex Luthor?" Joan asked.

"Um… the Inquisitor did an article about us staying at the penthouse Saturday." Lana answered her. "It's horrible and completely made up."

"They've been dismissed from the football team and cheerleading squad. Scholarships have been withdrawn." Chloe stated, paraphrasing the newspaper and looking pointedly at Lana who just shrugged.

"Hey." Clark said as he walked up to the group. "What are you guys looking at?"

Whatever Clark and Lex had been arguing about Sunday must have been resolved because he had a smile a mile wide plastered on his face and was practically floating.

"Have you seen the newspaper this morning?" Chad asked.

"Which one?"

"Any of them?" Lana replied.

"No. Why?" Clark must have forgotten about Lana's little revenge also.

"Well there's good news and bad news. Which one do you want first?" Lana asked him.

Chloe didn't really consider either one to be good news, but she could see how other people could be happy about the Ledger.

"Good news." Clark responded.

"Some cheerleaders and jocks were caught on a sex video. They've been kicked off of the teams and got their scholarships dropped." Chad happily told him.

Clark deflated. "And the bad news?"

"The Inquisitor found out we spent the night this weekend in Metropolis and made up a whole story about Lex and a gay high school orgy." Lana replied glumly.

Clark didn't really blush, but got very red in the face none the less. "What?"

"It's really bad." Chloe said. "But Dad wants us to stay out of it and let Lex and his PR staff handle it."

"But it's not true." He protested.

"Of course it's not true. And if there was an orgy, I'd like to know why I wasn't invited."

Joan promptly smacked Chad upside the head for that comment.

"I feel like we should do something to help him." Lana said.

Clark nodded in agreement.

"Look, Lex Luthor's a nice enough guy and all, but what do you think we could do to help him?" Joan asked.

'That was not the question to ask Lana', Chloe thought as she cringed and waited for the inevitable reply.

"I have a plan."

* * *

"This is a disaster Lex." Claire Simmons, his head of PR, had been lecturing him on and off for the entire day. "I can't believe you did this without so much as a warning my way." 

He glanced up when she took a breath to see if he had a chance to say something before she started ranting again. "I didn't do anything wrong and I want them sued for libel."

"It doesn't matter if you did anything wrong. It matters that they made it look wrong. If I believed you did anything like what they said you did, I wouldn't be here. I don't represent scum, remember? And we're going to sue them, don't doubt that."

"Did you find out who leaked the story?"

She nodded. "The doorman. He was fired this morning."

"What else are we going to do?" He asked.

"I've set up an interview with one of the Daily Planet reporters. We're going to give them your side of the story and sell the whole mess as you being a good, but persecuted, Samaritan."

"Sounds good."

Lex looked at the clock. Clark would have gotten out of school twenty minutes ago and he wanted to talk to him personally about this. If he could escape the rabid press camped out in front of the gates and the watchful eyes of his staff.

"I just need to know that there isn't anything else you haven't told me about these kids and your relationships with them."

Lex looked her in the eye and lied. "No, I can't think of anything else."

"Good. Then we'll get you through this and make those rags wish they'd never printed such a story."

"Oh I have no doubt Lex will get through this…Ms. Simmons, is it?" The devil himself had returned. "He's a survivor."

"Dad." Lex stood up in shock.

Claire looked back and forth between the two Luthors, indecision painted on her face. Lex paged security.

"Is that anyway to greet your father?"

"When he's a murdering psychopath, yes." Lex stated. "Why are you here."

"Lex, I came because you've been looking so hard for me," his father proclaimed. "And I thought you should have some familial support in this hour of need."

He snorted. "Believe me Dad, your support's the last thing I need or want now."

"Are you sure about that?" Whatever else his father was going to say was sharply interrupted by the arrival of Lex's new head of security and three other hired hands.

"Mr. Luthor." Jacob Benson nodded his head at Lex, then looked appraisingly at Lionel out of the corner of his eye.

"I want to know how he got through security and if anyone saw him enter the grounds." Lex ordered.

"I'll look into it at once, sir. What would you…"

The entrance of two other people halted whatever Jacob was about to ask. Clark had absolutely the worst timing sometimes.

"Mr. Kent, how nice to see you." Lionel greeted him. "And you brought the lovely Ms. Lang with you."

"Jacob." Lex caught the other man's attention while pointedly not looking the towards Clark.

He didn't want anything to give him away.

"I'm sorry sir, but I don't know how they got past us either."

His father chuckled. "You must be new. Young Clark here has had free reign of this house since he was fifteen."

Lex inwardly winced as Clark blushed and Claire looked at him with renewed suspicion. While he had only ever considered patricide, he wasn't above acting on it. "Please escort my father to a guest room and keep an eye on him."

As soon as his security left the room with his father, Clair pounced. "Is that true?"

He sighed. "Clark's my friend and has always been welcome in my home."

"Fifteen?" She asked incredulously. "How did they get around security anyway?"

"We went around to the side and jumped the fence." Clark answered her. "We just wanted to avoid the press."

"That was a good idea. You know what would have been better? If you'd stayed away altogether."

"Claire." Lex addressed her with a warning tone. "It's alright."

"We came because of the article. We wanted to help." Lana explained.

His head of PR looked at them shrewdly. "Did anyone see either of you come here?"

"Just the kitchen staff." Clark answered.

Claire turned to speak to Lex. "I don't want to have to involve any of these kids."

"Neither do I." He agreed.

"Good, then I'm going to find out if anyone else saw them or your father enter the grounds. And we'll talk about this later." She excused herself and left the room.

"What are you two doing here?" He asked.

"We wanted to see if you were ok." Clark stated. Lex could see his hands fidgeting with the ends of his jacket, like he didn't quite know what to do with them.

"And we also wanted to tell you how sorry we are about this. If I hadn't asked you to chaperone us this weekend, none of this would have happened." Lana looked truly apologetic…too apologetic. He thought back to his earlier suspicions about her.

"It's not your fault. I didn't even consider the press issues when I agreed and I know you wouldn't ever plan for something like this to happen."

"Of course not. And we really do want to help." She insisted.

Lex thought she sounded sincere and believed her. Whatever Lana had been up to, this wasn't it. "That's nice, but there's nothing you can do now."

A knock sounded on his office door.

"Come in." Lex said, silently amazed someone bothered to knock.

"Sir, Lionel Luthor's secure on the third floor." Jacob announced.

"Thank you. I want you to make sure Clark and Lana leave discreetly." He directed. "Try taking them out the same way they came in."

"Yes sir."

Clark looked like he wanted to protest.

"I'll talk to you later." Lex cut him off. "And tell your parents that my father has resurfaced."

* * *

"You're just trying to avoid Gabe, aren't you?" Clark asked Lana as they both climbed out of her car. 

"No" She replied. "He already knows. Gabe's the one who showed me and Chloe the article this morning. I figured you'd want someone to act as a buffer in case your father freaks out."

"Did he yell?"

"Not that much. He knows Lex, so he didn't believe it." Lana fumbled with her keys, dropping them and picking them up again. "Do your parents still think all things Luthor are evil?"

"Um…they're kind of weird about that." Clark purposely slowed down, putting off the inevitable. "If I'm mad at Lex they defend him, but if I defend him about something, they'll give me the whole 'you can't trust a Luthor' spiel."

"Great," Lana half smiled. "All we have to do is go in there griping about how this is all Lex's fault and they'll be ok."

Clark considered it for a moment. "I think I'll just keep quiet and play it by ear. They don't read the Inquisitor, so maybe they won't have even heard about it."

"Right." Lana look like she believed that about as much as Clark did.

"Right." Clark panicked a little as he opened the door. "So you're staying for dinner?"

"Sure." She was braver than he gave her credit for, or really stupid.

No one was in the kitchen when they first went in, despite the food simmering on the stove. Clark heard Lana yelp and quickly looked over to where she was staring. The television was on, but muted. A report on the Inquisitor's article was playing and his Dad's shotgun was sitting on the living room table.

"Clark."

He actually jumped when his father entered through the hall door off of the kitchen.

"Hey Dad. Where's Mom?" He didn't think he sounded that flustered.

"She's upstairs talking to your Grandfather. Are you alright son?"

"Fine." He managed to say.

"Hello Mr. Kent."

Clark had almost forgot Lana was there for a moment.

"Lana. You staying for dinner?" His father was entirely too calm. It was scaring him more than all the yelling in the world.

"If you don't mind." She answered.

"Of course not. We'd love to have you." He smiled. Maybe he hadn't actually seen the news. He could have been watching something else and left the room before the story came on. But it didn't explain the shotgun.

"You have the shotgun out." Clark mentally kicked himself for just blurting it out that way.

His Dad stirred the vegetables and looked towards the coffee table. "I was cleaning it."

"Oh."

"Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah…it's just that…" Clark gulped. "Have you seen the news?"

"That thing about you guys staying over in Lex's penthouse? Is that what's got you so jumpy?"

"It's not true!" Clark said. "They made all that junk up."

Lana was staying quiet and looking at him like he'd grown another head. So much for playing it cool.

"I know," his father agreed.

"Your not upset about it?"

"I'm sure Lex will sort it out." He looked at Clark like he could see right through him. "Unless there's something I should be upset about…"

"No." Clark shook his head. "Nothing."

"Alright." He didn't look entirely convinced. "Why don't you two clean up for dinner, your mother will be down soon."

"Ok. I'll just go clean up now." Clark turned and practically jogged up the stairs.

Lana followed close behind him. "Great performance Clark. It's a good thing nothing did happen with the way you acted down there."

"I was just nervous." He turned on the faucet and washed his hands. "I didn't think he'd be that calm about it."

"Nothing did happen, right?" She looked suspiciously at him.

He shook his head and she let the subject drop.

* * *

**A/N: **I'm glad you guys are still enjoying the story. I'm a little confused as to why some of you think it's all over with. The last chapter was just a lull, it won't be done until a little more is tied up and revealed. 

RaeLynn Skye: I'm glad you're enjoying it. I want the Lana/Chloe thing to be confusing right now, because they think they're just pretending and are fairly confused themselves. I'm pretty sure that the rest of this story's going to be focused on the Clex, but I'll try to address the girls a little bit more before the story's over with.

Fred God of: It isn't over yet, although I have been thinking about a sequel. If I do it, it'll be a lot more racy and Clark will be in on the manipulations - but that's a whole different story.


	13. Chapter 13

"Now just let me do all the talking." Lana instructed her as they entered the offices of the Daily Planet.

Chloe sighed. "I've had a lot more experience with this than you have. I should be the one to talk to the interviewer."

"How do you have more experience?"

"Lana! I'm a reporter. I run the school newspaper. I had a column at the Daily Planet once."

"But you're never on the other end of it all, are you?" Lana punched the elevator button. "I've actually had more experience getting around your little investigations."

"My little investigations?" She raised her eyebrows. "Do you mind rephrasing that?"

Lana waved her off. "You know what I mean. Besides, I've rehearsed."

"They can tell when it's rehearsed."

Lana pouted.

Chloe huffed. "Fine. You can do it, but be careful not to go off on a tangent or say anything without really thinking about it first."

"I won't." She smiled and before Chloe knew it, Lana kissed her…in an elevator where they were completely alone. Her stomach flipped a little. As the other girl pulled away the elevator doors opened, rescuing her from having to say something.

Lana grabbed her hand and pulled her through the maze of desks where Chloe had once worked, stopping only once they had reached the end of the third row.

"Matt Jones?" Lana asked.

He looked up quickly and then did a double take, right past Lana. "Chloe Sullivan," he stood up, knocking his chair back, and hugged her. Chloe pulled her hand from Lana's and returned the embrace. "How you doing kid?"

"I'm ok."

He pulled back with a smile that shone even from his dark blue eyes. "What are you doing here?"

Lana grabbed her hand back and yanked Chloe next to her. "We're here to give you an interview."

He looked at them questioningly.

"You see…" She started to explain.

Lana cut her off. "Chloe said you were a fair reporter, so we've come to give you our side of the story about last weekend."

Matt still looked hopelessly confused.

"The Lex Luthor Scandal." Chloe elaborated.

"The one about the teenagers up at his penthouse?" Realization dawned upon him. "You're the teenagers?"

"Two of them." Lana answered. "Will you write a story about what we have to say?"

"Yeah, sure." He grabbed some supplies from his desk. "Let's do this somewhere private."

* * *

Two days had passed since Lex kicked him out of the castle without so much as a phone call for Clark. He did everything in his power to resist sneaking back in to talk to Lex. The sound of the barn door opening and closing broke him out of his morose daze.

"Dad?" He called out when after a few seconds, no one announced their presence.

"No." Lex's voice answered from the staircase. "I hope you don't mind me stopping by like this, but I wanted to…" Clark speeded over and kissed him soundly, interrupting him in mid-speech. "…see you"

"Why haven't you called?" Oh god, he sounded whiney even to himself.

Lex didn't seem to mind and smiled affectionately up at him. "Do you mind if I come in?"

Clark picked him up from where he stood on the last step, turned around and set him down on the loft floor as an answer.

"I've had a problem with the phone lines being tapped and for a castle, it's been surprisingly crowded at home with my staff and father hovering."

He nodded and then frowned. "What's going on with Lionel?"

"I don't know." Lex withdrew from his arms. "He's acting even stranger and more unpredictable than usual. He claims he's changed."

"He didn't seem different the other day."

"No…but he's been odd. I don't know how else to describe it. Personally, I can throw him farther than I trust him." He made his way over to the desk and lent against it.

"I can throw him a lot farther…" Clark trailed off when he caught a full smile on Lex's lips, brightening his entire face. He smiled back and walked over to stand closer to the other man. "How did you get here? I didn't hear a car drive up."

"I used your truck to sneak out of the castle and blend in with the locals, then parked on the other side of the field and walked across."

"Reporters?"

Lex nodded his head and shifted forward a little.

Clark moved even closer until he could feel gentle puffs of breath on his skin. "I'm glad you came."

"I missed you," he admitted, bringing his right hand up to thread through Clark's hair.

Clark pressed into his touch. Putting one hand on the desk behind Lex, he leaned down until his face touched the other man's and whispered in his ear. "I missed you too."

Lex shifted until their lips brushed. He rested his other hand on Clark's hip, squeezing lightly when their kiss deepened.

A quiet peace, not unlike the moment before their first kiss, settled over Clark. He took the opportunity to memorize the feeling of the other man in his arms. Lex smelled of cologne and something more subtle, something uniquely Lex.

Clark found the firmness of his lips broken only by a thin scar which he couldn't help but lick. He quickly grew addicted to the heat and the smooth feeling of the pale skin that his hands found themselves itching to explore.

He started to pull back when his heat vision activated, only to be startled by someone loudly clearing their throat from behind them.

"Clark, dinner's ready. Why don't you bring Lex down so we can have a little talk?" His mother's voice instructed from the top of the stairs.

Clark went completely still and the burning from behind his eyelids instantly let up.

* * *

The interview went fairly well. Lana told the bare minimum of facts and managed to appear only mildly rehearsed. She also made sure to let Matt know how she felt guilty for the mess their little field trip had caused for Lex. The sole snag for Chloe had been Lana's fierce clasp on her hand underneath the table. She felt it was time to revisit Lana's motives in their relationship, but also felt extremely reluctant for the confrontation ahead.

Chloe had gone into the whole situation under the impression that the plan was brought on by an interest in fixing Clark and Lex up. Later, she suspected Lana's problems with Jason had a great deal to do with it, but after the kiss in the elevator and the obvious display of jealousy over Matt, doubts surfaced.

The problem was that she had no one to really talk to about it since nobody knew the truth except for her father and Pete.

Chloe chose the lesser of two evils and dialed the phone from the privacy of her bedroom.

"Hello."

"Hey Pete, it's Chloe. How are you?"

"Fine." He sounded suspicious. "What's up?"

"I…I need to talk?"

"It's blowing up in your face isn't it." He didn't have to sound so smug about it.

"No…well just a little…I think," she admitted.

"I read the Inquisitor. Did they find out?"

"No." Chloe took a deep breath. "It's Lana."

"uh huh," he signaled for her to continue.

"Things have gotten weird. Well…weirder."

"How?"

Chloe hesitated. "I think she might actually like me."

"Like you, like you."

"Yes." She exclaimed. "What? Are we in the fifth grade?"

"I was just clarifying." He had the nerve to laugh. "So why do you think she has the hots for you?"

"It's not funny! She kissed me for no good reason when no one was around and then got all jealous when a guy I know hugged me."

"Are you sure nobody was around?"

"We were alone in an elevator."

He burst into laughter again.

"Pete."

More laughter greeted her.

"Pete!"

"Ok, ok…just give me a second."

She waited patiently.

"Have you talked to her about it?"

"No, and I don't really want to."

"Well that's a good way to get an answer." He replied sarcastically.

"You think I should talk to her about it? What do I say?"

"You're allergic to pink." He giggled.

"Seriously."

"Tell her you're not a lesbian…you're not, are you?"

"I don't think so."

"You don't think so?"

"Well, I've never really tried it out." She twirled the phone cord around her hand and laid down on her bed.

"It's not something you try out."

"How do you know?"

"I just know." He sighed. "Do find other girls attractive?"

"Aesthetically." She admitted. "Have you ever checked another guy out?"

"No. No. No. Absolutely Not."

"So you've never done anything with another guy?"

"What part of those no's did you not get? I'm strictly into girls." He stated vehemently.

"The kissing's kind of hot," she admitted. "I mean it was awkward at first, but now it's just kind of nice."

Pete went silent for a minute. "How much have you two been kissing?"

Chloe felt herself blush. "A few times a day."

"Do you hold hands?"

"Sometimes," she confessed.

"Do you talk about your feelings?"

"We talk about everything."

"Do you miss her when she's not around?"

"A little."

"Oh yeah, you've definitely got yourself confused. You need to break it off and date a guy."

"But…I'm not sure I want to."

He became quiet again.

"Then why are you talking to me? Go talk to Lana."

"What if she isn't really into it and I'm just imagining things?"

"Well, don't just go into the conversation laying it all out." He advised. "Play it cool. Ask her why she kissed you when she didn't need to."

"Thanks Pete"

"You know, I can't believe what's happened since I left. It's all turned upside down. Clark's kissing Lex Luthor and I'm giving you advise on dating Lana." He ranted. "And what happened to all the mutants?"

"I don't know…wait a minute, Clark kissed Lex?" She sat bolt upright in bed.

"Um…I wasn't suppose to say that."

"Well you did. When did this happen? Where? How do you know? Give me the details." She demanded.

Pete groaned, but gave in. "You didn't hear it from me."

"Ok, I didn't hear it from you. Now spit it out."

"I walked in on them at the penthouse. They were going at it pretty well."

"Do they know that you know?" Chloe asked.

"Uh huh. Clark made me swear not to tell anyone, which means that you can't tell him I told you."

"I'll play it cool," she promised. "You're a really good friend."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Now go talk to your girlfriend."

* * *

Clark's protective stance over Lex gave him a warm feeling in his chest. It also unsettled him to think he might need physical protection from Clark's parents.

Truthfully, he was more afraid of Martha than Jonathan.

They exchanged awkward and stiff pleasantries when he entered the house, appearing entirely too civil in Lex's opinion, and proceeded to go about dinner as if nothing happened. Lex started wondering about just how functional the Kents really were under the nuclear family facade.

"So how long have you two been in a relationship?" Martha asked half way through the meal, apparently having tried to lull them into a false sense of security.

Clark froze with his fork in mid-air.

Jonathan continued eating as if he was purposely tuning out the entire conversation.

"Since this weekend." Lex answered for them both.

"Uh huh." She replied, still freakishly calm. "Why weren't we told?"

Clark still looked shell shocked and hopelessly panicked. "I was going to tell you…it's just that it's new."

Lex thought that was a perfectly viable excuse. "Also, with the whole press scandal and my father, it's been a little hectic. I just haven't found the time," he added.

Martha wore an expression which clearly said she knew they wouldn't have said a word until they had to. "Clark's had plenty of time," she said accusingly.

Clark ducked his head, abashed.

"We don't keep secrets from each other in this house." She continued. Lex thought that was a pretty rich statement considering the amount of secrecy which surrounded the Kents. "I'll let it go this time because I know it can be difficult to talk to your parents about this kind of stuff, but there are going to be some rules enforced."

Lex nodded his head.

"First, no more overnight visits until Clark's eighteen." She spoke, looking directly at Clark. "Second, Lex will announce himself when he comes over for a visit. Third, I hope you'll be a little better at keeping this a secret from others because I do not want you to have to deal with the public backlash until absolutely necessary."

"I completely agree." Lex put himself back into the conversation.

Martha redirected her gaze over to him. "Lex, you know I like you." She smiled. "I think of you as one of the family. But if you do anything unacceptable, I'll let Jonathan hurt you."

Clark's father perked up at her last remark and Lex gulped. "I won't," he promised.

"Good." She relaxed a little. "Now, is there anything else that we should know?"

Clark looked a little scared at her question for some reason. "There's um…"

"What?" Martha asked.

"Lex knows."

Jonathan stiffened up. "Knows what?" He looked back and forth between Clark and Lex.

"That I'm…not human."

Jonathan looked like he was thinking of where to hid the body. "You told him?"

"No," Lex answered for Clark. "I guessed."

"I suppose on some level I always figured you'd put all the pieces together, but you've got to understand how dangerous it is for Clark…people like your father would…" Martha trailed off, somewhat panicky.

"I know what my father's capable of, but I think you should know by now that I would do anything to protect Clark."

"Do you think Lionel's figured it out too?" She asked worriedly.

"Unfortunately, yes," he replied. "I've done what I could to neutralize him, but…"

"Short of killing the bastard, there's not much we can do." Jonathan voice held a frightening amount of venom.

"Jonathan!" Martha chastised her husband.

"It's true," Lex admitted. "But I'm not ready to consider that an option."

"You're not seriously talking about killing your father?" Clark exclaimed.

"No, I'm just agreeing with Jonathan that he's a real threat." Lex rubbed his tired eyes and decided to come clean about his suspicions, "I think he's working with someone else on this now…someone even more powerful than him."

"Whoever got him out of jail?" Jonathan asked.

"Yes, and I don't know who it is."

"I don't like this. Is there anyone else who might have guessed about Clark?" Martha asked.

"Chloe," Clark answered. "She pretty much told me that she knows."

"I'm more worried about her safety than what she would do." Lex responded. "I've had security watching the Sullivans since my father got out." He decided not to mention the two women he currently had watching the Kents also. He'd cross that bridge when he had to. "But like Jonathan said, there's not much else we can do."

The Kents nodded in agreement, then the dinner table fell silent.

"Clark, can you help me clear these dishes and get desert?" Martha asked, surprising Lex. No one had yet to finish their dinner. "I think we could all do with a little comfort food."

"Pie?" The dark mood cleared to some extent with Clark's innocently hopeful expression, making Lex smile.

Martha smiled affectionately also, "Yes, pie."

* * *

**A/N: **I know I've been a little slow updating, but RL has speeded up somewhat since the holidays. Barring some unforeseen disaster, I'll try not to make it more than a week in between updates. And once again, a big thanks to all who reviewed 


	14. Chapter 14

Monsters, freaky mutants with tentacles and mind control powers, were things that Chloe Sullivan understood and could handle. Lana Lang, despite some rumors, was not one of them. Thus despite requiring her to leave the house before the sun rose and subsisting on candy bars and bagels from the Talon, she had managed to avoid all but the briefest contact with the other girl for a whole day.

She had enough to distract herself with anyway since the disappearance of a girl from Smallville High and Lex Luthor seemed to correlate with sightings of strange lights in the sky and dead cattle.

When Chloe left the scene of the last abduction, Clark had been frantically searching in and around the sight where one of Lex's cars had been found abandoned despite warnings from the local Sheriff.

"Have you found anything yet?" He asked her, appearing next to her computer from out of nowhere.

Chloe practically jumped out of her chair. "Shit Clark! Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry," he said unapologetically. "Have you found anything?"

"Um…yeah." She calmed her breathing and looked up at his worried face. "We have three possibilities, el chupacabra,…UFO's, or both."

Clark swallowed. "What are chupacadres?"

"Chupacabras," she corrected him. "They're some kind of vampire like animal commonly seen in Mexico. I know we're in the middle of Kansas, but it fits with the livestock found drained of blood. Did you find anything else around the area?"

"Well…" he hesitated. "About 50 yard away from the car, there was a flattened area in the middle of John Fallow's field. It could have been from something landing."

"Ok….the third option, about it being both Chupacabras and UFO's?" Clark nodded his head, indicating that he was following her train of thought. "Some people think that Chupacabras are like pets…for aliens."

"Like a dog or something?"

She nodded her head.

"Who brings their dog to a different planet?"

Chloe shrugged, "I don't know. Is it possible you…um…know who these aliens are?"

"No," he barked out defensively. "I don't know any other…you know."

"So you're like, on your own? The only one here?"

Clark got real quiet and he cast his eyes down towards the floor. "The only one," he practically whispered.

"The…" she started.

"I don't want to talk about it," he stopped her.

"Alright," Chloe agreed and counted it a victory she managed to get him to admit what he did. "I haven't been able to put a pattern to the sightings and stuff yet, it all seems pretty scattered, but I'm continuing to monitor the police channels for more information."

Clark sat down next to her and looked at the information Chloe managed to uncover about such abductions for about five minutes before the phone rang. She picked it up. "The Torch, Chloe Sullivan speaking."

"Hi sweetheart, have you seen Lana tonight?" Gabe asked her anxiously.

"No."

"I don't want to worry you unnecessarily, but someone named Jenny called looking for her and said that Lana was supposed to meet her at the Talon, but never showed. I wouldn't worry, but with Lex Luthor missing and everything…" he trailed off.

"Have you tried her cell?"

"It says she's out of the service area."

"I think we should call the police and report her missing. I know a person has to be missing 24 hours, but with Lex and the other girl gone, they might want to know."

He sighed, "I'll do it. Are you alone there?"

"Clark's with me."

"Well, stay with him until you get home. I don't want anything happening to you."

"Ok, bye Dad."

"See you soon," he said before hanging up.

"Lana's missing too?" Clark asked her.

"Yeah."

"I'm going to go back out and search along the main roads." He stood up and the chair scraped along the floor as he pushed it under one of the tables.

She stood up also and grabbed her purse. "I'm going with you."

"You should probably go home."

"I'm going with you," she repeated. "Besides you don't have a car, unless you were planning on running all over the county."

He looked at her blankly.

"Oh, right." She put on her best determined face. "I'm still going with you."

He reluctantly nodded in agreement. "At least I'll be able to keep an eye on you this way."

* * *

Lana had been hanging in a glowing orange room for a few hours and her wrists were badly chafed. She tugged on the vine-like things wrapped around her arms, legs and torso, holding her to some kind of squishy wall. It was more out of irritation than an actual effort to get free.

Lex sighed in annoyance next to her.

"What?" She demanded.

"Nothing." Lana could have sworn he rolled his eyes.

"This isn't fair!" She screamed in frustration. "It's always me."

He snorted. "Not everything is always you."

"I get kidnapped all the time." She pointed out.

"I get kidnapped too."

"By crazy ex-girlfriends and stuff, not by freaky monsters."

Lex chuckled. "Same difference."

She pouted in silence for a little while.

"What were those things with the little gray aliens anyway?" The small red-haired girl on Lana's other side asked.

"Chupacabras, I think. They fit the description." Lex answered.

Lana moaned. "I think one of them drooled on me."

"They sort of remind me of Stitch with smaller ears, and gray skin." The other girl commented.

"Stitch?" Lex asked confused.

"Lilo and Stitch. It's a Disney movie." The redhead explained.

"Who are you, anyway?" Lana asked her, wanting to put a name to her face.

"Kayla Anderson. I'm a freshman at Smallville High." She revealed. "And you're Lana Lang, the lesbian, right?."

Lex laughed quietly and she could have kicked him if she were free. "Yes," she bit out. "My name is Lana Lang and I'm a lesbian."

He laughed harder.

"Oh will you shut up!" She snapped at him.

"Sorry, it just sounded like you were at a Lesbian's Anonymous meeting." He didn't sound very apologetic.

Kayla started to speak and then hesitated.

"Yes?" Lana encouraged her.

"How did you know you were a lesbian?" She asked.

Lex started laughing again.

"Lex!" Lana whined.

"I'm sorry," he choked out, "but this is getting surreal. I'm hanging in a spaceship after being caught by something out of a Disney movie, next to you while you discuss your sexuality. I don't know how else to respond."

"Fine," she huffed. "Let's discuss your love life then, shall we? I'm sure it's just as funny."

"Let's not." He sobered up.

"Oh come on Lex," she responded sarcastically. "After all, you might get lucky tonight, an alien could probe you."

His face and ears went pink. It was the first time she had ever seen him blush.

"Lana."

"Yes?"

"Shut up!"

* * *

After two hours of driving all over Smallville and the surrounding area, Clark and Chloe finally decided to head home.

"Is it alright if I use your phone?" She asked as they pulled up in front of his house. "My battery went dead twenty minutes ago."

"Sure, Mom and Dad won't mind," Clark said as he got out of the car.

She shut her door and walked up on the porch after him. "You know, it's too bad you don't have a ship or something you could use to send out a signal and flag other aliens down."

Clark stopped and turned around. "Get into the house, I'll be back in a bit." He blurred a little as he ran off in a haze of dust.

* * *

Clark had been treating this new Smallville crisis how he did every other one, except he wasn't dealing with mutants or crooked villains. If she was right, he was dealing with other aliens. He hadn't even thought about it until Chloe suggested it, but Clark had something better than a ship. He had a whole alien cave…if he could only get it to cooperate.

"Jor-El!" He shouted at the wall with the octagonal whole in it.

The Kryptonian signals sprang to life with colors cascading around the room. "Kal-El. Are you ready to fulfill your destiny?"

"No. I need you to do something for me."

The disembodied voice answered with a hesitant "Yes?"

"Can you tell if there are any alien ships around Smallville?"

"One moment." Clark waited patiently. "There is one non-Terran ship hovering approximately 498 meters above Smallville."

"Can you contact it?" He asked hopefully.

"Why?"

"They took some friends of mine."

"I see no need to encourage your continued dependency upon the humans in your life. If they are taken away from this planet, it may do you some good," Jor-El proclaimed.

"What?" Clark yelled at the wall. "You can't do that!"

"Yes I can."

"No! I need them back! I love them."

A sound vaguely reminiscent of a snort issued from the wall, shattering all of his hopes of getting to Lex and Lana. He needed to find them and rescue them. Panic well up inside his chest. "I'll make you a deal."

"I'm listening."

"I could…come here more often…and you could teach me about Krypton."

"And?"

"I'll try to listen to you more about my destiny." Clark agreed. "But if you let them get taken away from me I'll never, ever, listen to you again. You'll loose me forever."

The cave went quiet as Jor-El seemed to weigh his options. "Alright, I can contact them and persuade them to meet you. However, they can't land here. The area isn't nearly flat enough."

"Tell them to land by my house," Clark directed. "What kind of aliens are these?"

"The ship bares the signature of the Lascosaextrana, a mostly harmless species from a planet a few galaxies away. They range from 1.3 to 1.5 meters in height, have gray skin and large oval eyes. They are not a conquering species and offer no threat to you."

"What are they doing here?" Clark asked anxiously.

"Most likely vacationing."

"They killed a bunch of livestock," Clark exclaimed. "Is that their idea of a vacation?"

"Any death of Terran animals was most likely the result of their own animals' need for food." His biological father's voice explained patiently.

"They took Lex and Lana!"

"The Lascosaextrana enjoy watching other species in strange circumstances. It is similar to the human fascination regarding 'Reality Television' and they often take a few specimens away from their natural habitat as souvenirs. They do not harm them, but rather keep them as pets."

Clark stood speechless.

"A signal has been sent in reply to your message. They are landing Kal-El and you will have the opportunity to negotiate for the release of your humans."

"How? What do I offer them?"

"I do not know."

Jor-El gave no further information and Clark sped away back home to meet the ship.

* * *

Chloe had just hung up the phone and Martha was about to walk her to her car when the house suddenly flooded with blinding light. The light receded and disappeared in a matter of moments. She rushed to the kitchen window, but couldn't see anything out in the darkness. Martha heard clomping on the upstairs floor and down the staircase as Jonathan rushed down the stairs, clothes thrown on, with his shotgun in hand.

"Stay inside. I'll go see what's out there." He said before the door slammed shut behind him.

"I hate when guys tell me stuff like that," Chloe said as she followed him out the door.

"Well then, I'm going too." Martha spoke to herself, going after Chloe and Jonathan.

Besides the sound of their footsteps, it was eerily quiet outside.

"I don't see anything." Chloe said, looking at the field where Jonathan had stopped to stare.

"It's the grass. Look at it." He pointing, using the gun.

"It's all flat," she said understanding. "Like something landed on it."

A wind whipped around Martha before Clark appeared in front of Jonathan and Chloe. "Clark!" Both Martha and Jonathan yelled at the exact same time, horrified to see him use his powers so casually around his friend, even if she did suspect.

"It's alright. I know." Chloe defended him.

Clark ignored what was being said in favor of the spot of flattened grass. Suddenly the air shimmered before her vision and a large ship revealed itself, coming into focus. Two lights came on, not nearly as bright as before, and part of the ship lowered itself to the ground to form a ramp. It was like something out of a movie.

"Clark?" Jonathan called their son's name questioningly and cocked the shotgun.

"They're not Kryptonian," he explained, keeping an eye on the ramp. "And they've got Lex and Lana."

* * *

Lex's head throbbed as he silently prayed for Clark to figure out a way to find them. Lana quit whining after he yelled at her and he couldn't quite bring himself to feel guilty about it considering the circumstances. He'd done his fair share of bondage back in his wilder days, but this was going to far. His entire body felt numb except for the parts that we cut into by his restraints.

He tensed as part of the wall separated to allow two of the aliens and two of their creatures to come through. One of them spoke in a strange language, making clicking sounds and the whatever held him and the other two girls to the wall unwrapped quickly and dropped them to the floor. Luckily it was just as soft and padded as the wall to which they were bound.

Pins and needles shot through his limbs as he forced himself to stand. Lana got to her feet shakily and Kayla took three attempts before she pulled herself from the floor.

"What do you want?" He asked.

The one who spoke before stepped forward. "Follow me."

The chupacabras hissed as they bounded around the three of them. One of them pawed at Lana's leg which shot out to kick the creature away. The silent alien responded immediately by firing some kind of weapon at Lana which knocked her out cold. Kayla jerked away and backed up towards the wall. It fired on her too.

It then made some more clicking sounds at the chupacabras. The creatures picked the girls up quite easily, despite being a good foot shorter, and carried their still forms out of the room. The gray alien that spoke turned to follow with Lex reluctantly going along, the other bringing up the rear.

"What are you going to do with us?" Lex attempted to engage them in conversation again.

"That is still not certain." The alien behind him responded. "Do not speak further."

Lex looked at Lana's limp body with one arm dragging on the ground. The creature that carried her was indeed drooling. He decided to remain quiet.

* * *

Clark awaited the appearance of these Lascosaextranans anxiously. When they finally did appear, they brought Lex, Lana and the other missing girl with them. Both girls were unconscious and one of the Lascosaextranans seemed to be carrying a small gun like weapon. Clark decided to play this coolly, not wanting to see if their weapons worked on Kryptonians as well as humans.

"You contacted us?" One of the alien's asked in Kryptonian. It sounded strange to Clark's ears. Jor-El had always spoke English to him.

He tried to focus on how the language sounded in order to reply back in the same language. "I want them released." He succeeded, but the words felt foreign on his tongue.

"You have a different accent than one I've ever heard from your race," it stated. "What is your name?"

"Kal-El."

"The Els, yes I've heard of your family. I was not aware any Kryptonians survived the death of your planet?" It spoke in a way which reminded Clark strongly of Lionel Luthor.

Something in the back of his mind warned him to phrase his response vaguely. "How many survived is not of concern."

"Yes, I suppose you're right." It looked away from him, towards his parents and Chloe. "Do you wish to exchange these humans for the ones in my possession?"

"No," he replied quickly. "I wish them released."

It moved it's calculating gaze back to Clark. "I wish no confrontation with you or your people, but you must understand that I will need to be compensated."

Clark's mind raced to come up with something to offer in exchange. "You want a souvenir?"

"That was one of the goals for my visit to this planet," it answered.

He bit back bile at what he was about to offer. "There are others more interesting than the three you have. They have been mutated and possess special abilities."

This seem to catch the interest of the Lascosaextranan. "I have heard tales of such, however I've not been able to locate one. Can you help me with this?"

He thought about the drought of mutants Smallville had been greatfully experiencing for the past month. He thought back over the one's he had fought and was able to come up with three that had been institutionalized. Surely being with the Lascosaextranans wouldn't be that much different from a padded cell, he tried to rationalize to himself.

"There is one with unusual telekinetic abilities and two who can influence others through pheromones. They are already in confinement and I can tell you where they are being kept."

"Agreed." It turned towards Lex and the other girls and spoke in English. "You may go."

The things carrying Lana and the other girls bounded up next to Clark and dropped them on the ground in front of him, then rejoined the other Lascosaextranan by the ship. Lex quickly walked over and behind Clark.

"Where are they?" The one which had been speaking with him asked.

Clark reluctantly gave it the details it wanted.


	15. Chapter 15

Chloe sat anxiously by Lana's hospital bed, holding her hand and waiting for her to wake up. She felt guilty for avoiding her the day before just because she didn't know what to say. She decided to turn on the television to break the silence in the room.

"Sources have been unable to confirm whether or not last night's chaotic breakout of three inmates at Belle Reve had anything to do with the newly released and convicted killer Lionel Luthor, but they have confirmed that Luthor Corp did sponsor the treatment for Desiree Atkins, Justin Gaines and Sasha Spencer. This incident also may or may not be related to the brief disappearance of Lex Luthor yesterday. The Luthor Corp heir's personal assistant notified authorities of his absence and police later tracked down his car where it had been abandoned on a rural road. Further investigation is pending."

Chloe used the remote to click the TV set back off.

"Chloe?"

"Hey. You're awake." She smoothed Lana's hair off of her face. "How are you feeling?"

Lana blinked sleepily up at her. "I had the weirdest dream."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," she spoke softly. "There were aliens and a spaceship. I got kidnapped along with Lex and another girl. Lex yelled at me."

"Um…I don't know how to tell you this, but it wasn't a dream."

Lana looked down at the bed as if noticing that she was indeed in a hospital. "But there were aliens?"

Chloe nodded her head.

"How? What?"

"I'll explain everything later, but I'm going to go get the doctor now. Alright?"

"Ok."

Chloe pulled her hand away and left the room.

* * *

Lex walked into his bedroom completely exhausted. He had spent the majority of the night coming up with a suitable cover story, making sure Chloe and Clark remembered it word for word and giving it to the police. They were instructed to fill Lana and Kayla in on what they were suppose to say before the police had a chance to ask them any questions. The early morning hours had been spent in an emergency meeting with his personal assistant and his head of PR, giving the same story and getting an account of what happened at Belle Reve.

The reports of strange lights and claims of some of the psych ward residents of little gray men had him questioning what exactly Clark told those aliens to get them to let their hostages go. The upside to it all was that the bad press he received last weekend had been refuted with an interview Chloe and Lana gave the Daily Planet refuting the allegations, making the Inquisitor look like the muckraking rag it really was, and this weekend's events were sure to dwarf the other story.

He toed off his shoes and started to unbutton his shirt when he felt a presence in the room. Clark was sitting on the edge of his bed.

"I just wanted to make sure you were still alright," Clark said.

Lex nodded his head and walked over into his closet where he could change into some pajamas. "I'm tired, but fine. Did Lana and Kayla wake up?"

"Yeah," Clark answered him from the other side of the door. "They both agreed to tell the police your story. Kayla said it'll keep people from thinking she's crazy."

Lex pulled on his pajama bottoms. "Clark?"

"Yeah."

"How did you get them to release us?"

Silence answered him.

Lex sighed as he buttoned up his top. He walked out of the closet to stand in front of Clark and tilted the other man's head up to look him in the eye.

"I made a trade." Clark confessed.

"Belle Reve?" He asked.

"Yeah."

Lex nodded his head in acceptance.

"Are you angry with me?"

"No," he responded immediately. "You did what you thought you had to do. It was a difficult decision to make."

Clark took his hand and traced the fading bruises along his wrist. "I couldn't let them take you." Clark's eyes teared up. "I was so scared and they wouldn't have just let you go."

Lex leaned down and kissed him gently on the forehead. "I understand."

Clark grabbed him and held him tight as he silently cried. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Lex petted his head and whispered words of comfort, but he knew Clark was more upset over the guilt he felt for having traded in three other lives for theirs.

When Clark calmed down, Lex drew back and wiped his face. "You haven't slept all night, have you?"

"No," he croaked in reply.

"Take off your shoes and get under the covers," Lex directed him.

Clark followed without question and Lex climbed into the bed next to him. The younger man wrapped himself around him and fell asleep almost instantly.

When he was sure Clark was sleeping deeply, Lex closed his eyes and followed him.

* * *

Chloe's cell phone rang shortly after she had turned it back on after powering it up all day. "Chloe Sullivan," she answered.

"Hey Chloe, what's up?" Pete asked.

"Did you see the news today?"

"Oh yeah. A breakout at Belle Reve and Lex disappeared."

"I suppose you called to get the inside scoop?" She asked amused.

"Hey, I rub your back, you give me the juicy details." He laughed. "So what really happened?"

"Aliens, Pete. Little gray men and their dogs."

"Your kidding me?"

"Nope. They kidnapped Lex, Lana and some other girl from high school, but Clark managed to rescue them as per usual."

"Man…" he exclaimed, "and they kidnapped both Lex and Lana? It's usually one or the other."

She giggled at the absurdity of it all. "Yep, they landed and everything. You picked the wrong weekend to come back to Smallville."

"I can't believe I missed this! So what happened at Belle Reve?"

"I don't know," she replied. "But I have a feeling this had something to do with our missing mutant population."

"What? You think they went into hiding or something?"

"I think they sensed the danger and scattered."

"So, are you going to write a story about it?"

She snorted. "Mutants are one thing, Pete, but aliens? Come on, no one would believe me? I'd probably be committed to Belle Reve myself if I wrote that story."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Aliens are pretty unbelievable," he conceded.

"Listen, I've got to go and get back to Lana. I'll fill you in on all the juicy details later."

They said their goodbyes and she clicked off the phone.

* * *

Martha turned off the news when Jonathan came in from doing the morning chores.

"The cows are fed," he informed her. She smiled at how simple and normal he managed to make their lives feel when they were anything but.

"Good, you should probably take a nap. I know you didn't get much sleep after Clark and Lex took the girls left to take the girls to the hospital," she said, yawning at the end.

"You look like you could use one yourself"

She nodded, took his hand and stood up to follow him to their bedroom.

"What do you think Clark said to those aliens?" Jonathan asked her as they climbed the stairs.

Martha thought about it. "I have my suspicions, but I don't think we should ask him."

Jonathan raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"He'll come to us if he needs to," she assured him.

* * *

Chloe yawned and sipped the coffee she had bought in the hospital cafeteria as she opened the door to Lana's room.

"Hey."

"Hi yourself," she replied. "How are you feeling?"

Lana grimaced. "I wish people would quit asking me that, but otherwise I'm fine."

Chloe smiled. "Good. I wanted to talk to you before this all happened."

"About what?" Lana asked as Chloe sat next to her on the edge of the bed.

"About us…is there an us?" She asked tentatively.

"You mean for real?"

"Yeah. I mean, I know we started out pretending, but it's been confusing me lately," Chloe admitted. "When you kissed me in the elevator in Metropolis, it got me thinking."

"Yeah?"

"It's been nice between us…dating."

Lana gave her one of her genuine smiles. "It has," she agreed. "It's probably the most healthy relationship I've ever been in."

She couldn't help but chuckle. "So do you want to try it? For real this time?"

The other girl gazed into her eyes with a look Chloe couldn't quite place, but which made her feel alive in every fiber of her being. "I'd like that."

Chloe grabbed Lana's hand with her free one, not caring if she looked dopey with the large grin on her face.

Lana sat up further in the bed, until they were at eye level. "But you know, we still have to find a way to get Lex and Clark together."

"Actually, they already are," Chloe informed her. "I have a source willing to swear that he saw them kissing at the penthouse last Saturday."

"Really? Do you think it was because of the plan?" Lana asked hopefully.

She nodded her head. "How could it not be? After all, you came up with it."

Lana pushed a stray lock of hair behind Chloe's ear, leaned in and kissed her.

Chloe didn't know whether or not she should blame the lack of sleep or the massive amounts of caffeine she had consumed that day, but when Lana's lips touched hers they set off fireworks behind her closed eyes and something that felt like true happiness in heart.

* * *

The End.

* * *

**A/N: **I'm a little late with my weekly deadline, but hey - it's a two for one deal and the story's completed.

There might be a sequel tentatively titled "Clark Kent and the Holy Quest to get Laid." It'll be posted at the Adult Fanfiction site while I work on it since it's likely to get risqué.

I'd like to thank you all for your comments and support. I'd also like to put a request out there for betas and suggestions on how to clean up the story before I post it on the Smallville Slash Archive. If you want, leave your contact info with your comments and I'll e-mail you the full document.


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